Part of Kay Scarpetta, book 5
First published 2004
An eleven year old girl turns up dead in Black Mountain, North Carolina. The sleepy town barely sees one murder per year. Residents still forget to lock their doors at night. Local police call in Dr Kay Scarpetta, the Chief Medical Examiner from Virginia. She has worked a similar case before. What seems like a straightforward investigation quickly becomes complicated. The evidence does not add up the way Scarpetta expects. She must dig deeper into forensic science to find answers. Her search leads her to the Body Farm, an unusual research facility where scientists study how corpses decompose. This strange laboratory becomes the key to solving the case. Scarpetta must use every skill she has learned to bring justice for the murdered child and restore peace to the shaken community.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, investigation
Setting: Black Mountain, North Carolina, Virginia
Period: 21st-century
351 pages · Paperback · Berkley
Content warnings: child-death, murder