Kay Scarpetta has been training at the Dover Port Mortuary, mastering the art of 'virtual autopsy' - a groundbreaking procedure that could soon revolutionise forensic science. And it is not too long before these new skills urgently need to be put into practice. A young man drops dead, apparently from a heart condition, eerily close to Scarpetta's home.
But when his body is examined the next morning, there are stunning indications that he may have been alive when he was zipped inside a pouch and locked in the cooler. When the revolutionary 3D radiology scans reveal more shocking details about internal injuries unlike any Scarpetta has ever seen, she realizes that this is a case of murder - and that she is fighting a cunning and uniquely cruel enemy. Now it is a race against time to discover who and why before more people die. But that time is running out ...
'Long, terse and brilliant...Cornwell, who has already won more prizes than you can shake a stick at, seems to be getting better and better' City AM
'A gripping read made more chilling by Cornwell's note that the sci-fi technology she's describing actually exists' Metro
'A bountiful offering from one of crime fiction's most celebrated authors...arguably her most accessible book in more than a decade' Hartford Books Examiner
'Sports the author's customary expertise' Independent
'A worthy addition to the Scarpetta canon... it proves that Cornwell's not running out of ideas for her unflinching and impervious... immutable and unrelenting forensic pathologist, who - thankfully - is showing no signs just yet of retiring' Observer
'This is vintage Cornwell, full of the technical detail that fascinates her fans' Irish Independent
'A complex tale of unravelling conspiracy theories' Irish Times
'Patricia Cornwell is back to her best in one of the finest Scarpetta novels yet' RTE Guide
Author
About Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Cornwell is one of the world’s major international best-selling authors, translated into thirty-six languages across more than fifty countries. She is a founder of the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine, a founding member of the National Forensic Academy, a member of the New York OCME Forensic Sciences Training Program’s Advisory Board, and a member of the Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital’s National Council, where she is an advocate for psychiatric research.
In 2008 Cornwell won the Galaxy British Book Awards’ Books Direct Crime Thriller of the Year – the first American ever to win this prestigious award. Her most recent bestsellers include Scarpetta, Book of the Dead and The Front. Her earlier works include Postmortem – the only novel to win five major crime awards in a single year – and Cruel and Unusual, which won the coveted Gold Dagger award in 1993. Dr. Kay Scarpetta herself won the 1999 Sherlock Award for the best detective created by an American writer.
