Part of Kay Scarpetta, book 26
First published 2022
Chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta takes the witness stand in a high-profile murder case that has Old Town Alexandria on edge. Two years earlier, a former beauty queen's corpse appeared on Wallops Island's shoreline in Virginia. Her fiancé sits in jail awaiting trial for her death, last seen with the victim aboard a boat. Scarpetta must clean up the mess left by a previous forensic pathologist who bungled the original investigation. The prosecutor subjects her to brutal cross-examination as television cameras roll and protesters gather outside the courthouse. When Scarpetta finally leaves the courtroom, she learns that someone has killed the presiding judge's sister. The forensic pathologist realizes she faces a hidden adversary with deadly intentions. As violence threatens to spill into Alexandria's streets, Scarpetta must navigate both the legal battlefield and a conspiracy that puts her own life at risk.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: hidden-adversary, legal-battle
Setting: Alexandria, Wallops Island, Virginia
Period: 2 years earlier
368 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing
Content warnings: violence