WICKED above her hipbone, GIRL across her heart Words are like a road map to reporter Camille Preaker's troubled past. NASTY on her kneecap, BABYDOLL on her legSince she left town eight years ago, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. HARMFUL on her wrist, WHORE on her ankleAs Camille works to uncover the truth about these violent crimes, she finds herself identifying with the young victims--a bit too strongly.

Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get at the story. From the Hardcover edition.