Forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta has returned to Virginia as the chief medical examiner, inheriting not only an overbearing secretary, but a legacy of neglect - and potential corruption. She and her husband Benton Wesley, now a forensic psychologist with the U.S. Secret Service, have relocated to Old Town Alexandria where she's headquartered five miles from the Pentagon in a post-pandemic world that's been torn by civil and political unrest.After just weeks on the job, she's called to a body on the railroad tracks. But there's more to the dead woman than meets the eye, and Scarpetta suspects an obfuscated connection between this corpse and another.Meanwhile, a catastrophe occurs in a top-secret laboratory in orbit, with two scientists aboard the craft suspected to be injured or dead. With the help of video links and two astronauts, Scarpetta must remotely work a crime scene in space.
Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Cornwell is a bestselling American author known for her crime fiction novels, particularly the Kay Scarpetta series. Her works are characterized by meticulous research, detailed forensic details, and complex characters. Cornwell's contributions to the crime genre have helped redefine the genre by incorporating cutting-edge forensic science into her storytelling. Her most famous work is "Postmortem," which introduced readers to the forensic pathologist Dr. Kay Scarpetta. Cornwell's works have had a significant impact on the crime genre, inspiring other authors to delve deeper into forensic science and create more realistic and compelling crime fiction novels.