Part of Kay Scarpetta, book 20
First published 2012
Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta receives mysterious evidence in her Boston office. The clues point to a missing paleontologist who disappeared while excavating dinosaur fossils in the Canadian wilderness. Scarpetta cannot understand why this case has landed on her desk from over two thousand miles away. As she investigates, she discovers links between the woman's disappearance and brutal crimes in her own city. A savage killing and unexplained torture cases share strange connections to prehistoric trace evidence. Scarpetta turns to her trusted circle for help but finds betrayal instead. Her niece Lucy offers only cryptic responses. Pete Marino and her husband Benton Wesley hide their own secrets. Isolated and suspicious of everyone around her, Scarpetta faces temptation from someone in her past while pursuing a killer who combines intelligence with cruelty. The investigation forces her into territory she has never navigated before.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, betrayal, isolated-protagonist
Setting: Boston, Canada
Period: Contemporary
463 pages · Hardcover · G.P. Putnam's Sons
Content warnings: violence