Josie Harjo

Dr. Josie Harjo is ready for a break in the endless parade of dead bodies. The small college town of Stillwater has emptied for the winter holiday. There's only a skeleton crew at the lab, and the steady stream of carcasses has slowed to a trickle. Josie expects it'll be a nice respite after a few hectic months, so she doesn't mind being at the lab despite her creepy coworker, Gerald, lurking in the halls. Anticipating a light caseload, she plans on spending her free time helping her friend, Laila, dodge the machinations of her overbearing parents. The week kicks off with a seemingly routine necropsy. Josie goes through the motions and doesn't think much of it. Then, just as a nasty blizzard sweeps in, a second case from the same farm squeezes through the doors. At the sight of an entire litter of dead piglets, Josie quickly realizes something serious is unfolding, and the sudden lab closure only worsens the situation. Dead bodies pile up along with the snow as the drama outside of work continues to pull her focus. With so many things standing in her way, will Josie figure out what's killing the pigs before the entire farm is lost?

Dr. Josie Harjo never expected a dead police dog to haunt her dreams. The workweek begins with a steady flow of the usual sorts of dead bodies, and Josie eases into the comfortable routine of life on the necropsy floor. Everything chugs along smoothly until the narcotics unit shows up with the body of a canine officer who died under suspicious circumstances. To Josie's dismay, the necropsy is unremarkable, and she's left grasping at straws. Her oddball coworker, Gerald, thinks the dog is another victim of a recent food-borne outbreak. But with no lesions to hang her hat on, Josie can't rule out the possibility that something terrible happened during the drug bust. With everyone hounding her for answers, she can't shake the police dog from her thoughts. To make matters worse, the rest of Josie's life is a soupy mess. She's still trying to figure out where things stand with Gerald and the rest of the crew at the lab. Her boyfriend's visa is set to expire soon, potentially sending him an ocean away. Her Aunty's dog, Chula, has fallen mysteriously ill. And at night, she's plagued by nightmares of a white dog trailing down an endless path. With everything coming to a head, will Josie be able to put her life in order and find closure?