Paperback / ISBN-13: 9780751543926

Price: £9.99

ON SALE: 28th April 2011

Genre: Crime & Mystery / Suspense

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The eighteenth book in the Kay Scarpetta series, from No. 1 bestselling author Patricia Cornwell.

‘America’s most chilling writer of crime fiction’ The Times


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 . . .

Praise for the groundbreaking series:

‘One of the
best crime writers writing todayGuardian

Devilishly cleverSunday Times

The top gun in this fieldDaily Telegraph

Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reignsMirror

The Agatha Christie of the DNA ageExpress

Kay Scarpetta