Dr. Kay Scarpetta, chief medical examiner for Virginia, investigates the sex murder of a girl by an escaped convict. The probe requires exhuming the body for a second autopsy. Lots of information on bodies and autopsies. By the author of Cruel and Unusual.

"Killing me won't kill the beast" are the last words of murderer Ronnie Waddell, written before his execution. They can't explain how Dr. Kay Scarpetta finds Waddell's fingerprints on another crime scene, after she performed his autopsy. If this is the game, Scarpetta will be the target. If the next victim is someone she knows, the punishment will be cruel and unusual. Ronnie Joe Waddell va a ser ejecutado por un horrible crimen y la doctora Scarpetta,...

In Norfolk, Virginia, a reporter is killed while scuba diving in the naval yard. As she investigates, chief medical examiner Kay Scarpetta uncovers a plot by a fascist militia to take over an atomic power plant.

Medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta, anticipating a quiet New Year's Eve, is called to investigate the death of a reporter found in the waters of a Navy shipyard who was following an explosive story that leads Scarpetta and the FBI into the hands of a cult fanatic.