In the middle of the night, prosecutor Alexandra Cooper is called to Harlem's Mount Neboh Baptist Church to find out why the body of a young woman has been decapitated, set on fire, and left burning on the church steps. Alex wonders if the fire was meant to destroy this woman's body, or to draw attention to it. Her fears are confirmed days later, when a second corpse is found. Convinced that another young woman is bound to die, Alex mines the depths of Manhattan's many houses of worship.