Dr Kay Scarpetta has left Virgina in quest of peace but instead finds herself drawn into baffling, horrific murders in Florida, where she becomes entangled in an international conspiracy that confronts her with the shock of her life.

Kay Scarpetta has arranged to meet an inmate at the high-security Georgia Prison for Women. Against advice, she is determined to hear this woman out - she believes the prisoner may hold some answers to the murder of her former deputy.

Chief medical examiner Kay Scarpetta is star witness - grudgingly - in a murder trial when she receives shocking news. The judge?s sister has been found dead. At first glance, it appears to be a home invasion, but then why was nothing stolen, and why is the garden strewn with dead plants and insects? Although there is no apparent cause of death, Scarpetta recognises telltale signs of the unthinkable, and she knows the worst is yet to come. The forensic...