After one of America's most accomplished mountaineers gives a talk at Seattle town hall, he is found dead in the men's bathroom. The media reports that Mr. Hawkins, an ageing mountain hero, died of a heart attack. But twenty-seven-year-old Marta, a big fan and eager mountaineer herself, discovers he was in fact murdered and makes it her mission to find out why.
With help from Jose, a local police officer, and her best friend Sonia, she investigates the case further and their investigations take them to Pakistan and the high Himalayas. But what starts out as a stunning hike through the Karakoram Mountains, soon turns into a race against death.
