She reaches. On a freezing night in Western Kansas, Reaching Woman forty feet in the air, trapped in stone with her leg encircled by an octopus s tendril balances on a slender beam. But the ancient statue cradles a ghastly bundle placed there only yesterday. Burdened with creating a regional crime center, Undersheriff Lottie Albright reluctantly takes the time to show her husband s visiting aunt, a best-selling mystery novelist, Kansas Garden of Eden, the eccentric creation of a Civil War veteran. It consists of a bizarre parade of tree-high sculptures surrounding a city block. But when Aunt Dorothy Mercer discovers a body in the mausoleum the ill-timed wintry excursion becomes a murder investigation. However, it takes the sharp eyes of Sheriff Sam Abbott to notice Reaching Woman s deadly burden. Lottie and her twin sister, psychologist Dr. Josie Albright, are immediately challenged by a demonic killer who just might be smarter than both twins. As far as Frank Dimon at the KBI is concerned, too many members of Lottie s family are involved in this investigation. But his insertion of a forensic psychologist of his own choosing sets off a ferocious conflict between Josie and his appointee, Dr. Evan Ferguson, which threatens Lottie s credibility in creating the new regional law-enforcement center and emboldens the killer. A hastily assembled crew of men from the region s counties pits rural wisdom against the KBI s sophisticated methods. Frustration mounts when murders accelerate and innocents are sacrificed."