Halfway through the retelling, Benson and Stabler are antagonized by rival detectives Henson and Abler. In Machado’s retelling, Detective Olivia Benson is haunted by the ghosts of women whose murders have gone unresolved, and Detective Elliot Stabler obsesses over his wife’s rape, despite her wishes not to talk about it. “Especially Heinous” retells seven seasons of the television program Law and Order: SVU. A family the protagonist does not recognize enters with a now 11-year-old Mara and her younger brother. The protagonist takes Mara on a trip, and when they return to their house in the Indiana woods, it looks neglected.

While caring for Mara, the protagonist recalls the beginning and end of her relationship with Bad, in which Bad physically abused her. Bad has just dropped off Mara, whom she claims is their daughter. The short story “Mothers” locates the protagonist at the end of her relationship with an abusive lover named Bad. Finally, to avoid the virus, she must move to a remote island. In “Inventory,” a young woman chronicles her romantic exploits as a deadly virus threatens to kill off the human race. As he unwinds the ribbon, her head falls off. However, as time wears on, his curiosity about her ribbon increases, posing a threat to her livelihood. After meeting her husband as a teenager, the protagonist decides that he is the only man who will fulfill her sexual desires. In “The Husband Stitch,” the protagonist contends with her husband’s desire to touch the green ribbon around her neck, which holds her head in place. Her Body and Other Parties consists of eight short stories that examine the psychology of women in contemporary society.

Her body and other