Book description
The 'book of the dead' is the morgue log, the ledger in which all cases
are entered by hand. For Kay Scarpetta, however, it is about to have a
new meaning. Fresh from her bruising battle with a psychopath in
Florida, Scarpetta decides it's time for a change of pace. Moving to the
historic city of Charleston, South Carolina, she opens a unique private
forensic pathology practice, one in which she and her colleagues offer
expert crime scene investigation and autopsies to communities lacking
local access to competent death investigation and modern technology. It
seems like an ideal situation, until the murders and other violent
deaths begin. A woman is ritualistically murdered in her
multi-million-dollar beach home. The body of an abused young boy is
found dumped in a desolate marsh. A sixteen-year-old tennis star is
found nude and mutilated near Piazza Navona in Rome. Scarpetta has dealt
with many brutal and unusual crimes before, but never a string of them
as baffling, or as terrifying, as the ones before her now. Before she is
through, that book of the dead will contain many names - and the pen may
be poised to write her own. The first name in forensics. The last name
in suspense. Once again, Patricia Cornwell proves her exceptional
ability to entertain and enthral. Patricia Cornwell's first novel,
POSTMORTEM, was published in 1990 and won five international awards. Her
Scarpetta novels have since become Number One bestsellers throughout the
world. She has also published three police procedurals, HORNET'S NEST,
SOUTHERN CROSS and ISLE OF DOGS.
