A female jogger is found floating in the Schuylkill River. Former neurosurgeon and newly-appointed medical examiner Dr. Megan Hunt teams up with her partner, medical investigator and former cop Peter Dunlop, under the watchful eye of their boss, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kate Murphy, who is very aware of Megan's gifted but polarizing work style. Megan's colleagues, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Curtis Brumfield and Pathology Fellow Dr. Ethan Gross, find they have to tip-toe around the new medical examiner to get work done. Megan's investigation takes her into the field where she meets old-school Detective Bud Morris, who is exasperated by Megan's tenacity and bull-headedness. His partner, Detective Samantha Baker, has a quiet respect for Megan's input, even if Morris doesn't. Meanwhile, Megan has to solve a personal puzzle of her own - what is the perfect present for her estranged daughter's birthday.
When a young, interracial couple is found shot and killed inside their car in Fairmount Park, Dr. Hunt promises the grieving parents that their daughter's killer will be found. Detectives Morris and Baker are ready to chalk the case up to a murder-suicide, but Megan and her team find evidence on the bodies that sends the case in an entirely different and shocking direction. Meanwhile, Peter advises Megan not to push too hard when it comes to reconnecting with her daughter, Lacey.
During the autopsy of a young woman murdered in a seedy hotel room, Megan is shocked to discover her own special connection to the victim. Meanwhile, after learning of some personal challenges her colleagues are dealing with, Megan realizes how much goes on around her that she's been missing, and takes a sudden interest, much to her colleagues' amusement.
When a severed hand and foot turn up in a back alley, Megan and her team must literally piece the case together. Meanwhile, Megan's daughter, Lacey, gets her mother's reluctant permission to visit her at the office and film her as part of a video essay for Social Studies class. What Lacey learns in the process profoundly changes her view of her mother.
Karen Archer is the identical twin of a beautiful corpse, Jessica, whose mysterious death keeps Ethan and Curtis guessing. As Ethan's personal interest in this case deepens, Curtis begins questioning Ethan's motives. Meanwhile, Megan faces old demons when she visits her former boss at the hospital where she used to practice. A patient has died after recent surgery. Was it murder or malpractice? Megan begins to suspect the victim's doctor, but when she starts ruffling feathers, the hospital stonewalls.
Megan re-enters the high society world to which she once belonged when a top magazine editor is found dead at her Chestnut Hill mansion. Megan accepts an invitation from her mother, Judge Joan Hunt, to a social event with the ulterior motive of confronting a prime suspect, appalling her mother in the process. When Kate asks Ethan to investigate the only trace evidence found at the murder scene, he's surprised by her uncharacteristically upbeat and supportive attitude.
A perfect neighborhood in the Philadelphia suburbs is shaken when a stay-at-home dad is found stabbed to death in his home. As Megan unravels the mystery of his death and who killed him, she recalls how she learned of her own father's death. Meanwhile, Peter helps Megan juggle her biggest challenge yet, taking charge of the Saturday carpool with her hard-to-impress daughter, Lacey, and her girlfriends. Also, Kate takes on a consulting role in a pro bono case with Megan's ex-husband, Todd.
When a Philadelphia homicide detective is the victim of a hit-and-run, Megan must seek help with the case from her estranged mother, Judge Joan Hunt. All the while, Megan realizes she misses her own close relationship with her daughter.
Megan suspects foul play when a young socialite dies, even though she had a terminal illness. The investigation means the funeral is halted but it doesn't help that the body was embalmed before the autopsy leaving few clues for the team. The investigation is then interrupted by Kate's personal life. Lacey thinks her parents might be getting back together.