The "book of the dead" is the morgue log, a ledger in which all cases are entered by hand. For Kay Scarpetta, however, it is about to take on a new meaning. Fresh from her bruising battle with a psychopath in Florida, Scarpetta decides it's time for a change of pace, not only personally and professionally but geographically. Moving to the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina, she opens a unique private forensic pathology practice, one in which she and her colleagues-including Pete Marino and her niece, Lucy-offer expert crime-scene investigation and autopsy services to communities lacking local access ...
Wymagaj?ca i stanowcza Judy Hammer jest szefow? policji w Charlotte, rozwijaj?cym si? centrum bankowo-przemys?owym w Karolinie P??nocnej. Nie wszyscy akceptuj? fakt, ?e kobieta zajmuje stanowisko tradycyjnie przeznaczone dla m??czyzn. Burmistrz Search wola?by zamiast niej ugodowego funkcjonariusza, kt?rym ?atwiej by?oby manipulowa?. Judy musi si? zmaga? nie tylko z przest?pcami, lecz r?wnie? z uleg?ymi wobec lokalnych notabli w?adzami miasta, napastliw? pras? i nielojalnymi pracownikami. Pojawiaj? si? tak?e k?opoty rodzinne. Ale wszystkie problemy musz? odej?? na dalszy plan, gdy nieuchwytny psychopata, nazywany przez dziennikarzy "Czarn? Wdow?", zaczyna mordowa? przyje?d?aj?cych do miasta biznesmen?w.
Kay Scarpetta, costretta alla libera professione in Florida, viene richiamata con grande urgenza a Richmond, in Virginia, la citt? che cinque anni prima le aveva voltato le spalle. Chi dirige ora il Dipartimento di Medicina legale ? un presuntuoso incompetente e Kay Scarpetta ha la brutta sorpresa di trovare i suoi laboratori in uno stato di completo abbandono. E’ questo il motivo per cui i colleghi di una volta non riescono a venire a capo della morte di una quattordicenne…
Po Richmond kr??y zab?jca – w okrutny spos?b morduje m?ode, mieszkaj?ce samotnie kobiety.Na poz?r ofiary nie maj? ze sob? nic wsp?lnego. Doktor Kay Scarpeta, naczelny koroner stanu Wirginia, oraz Pete Marino, sier?ant z wydzia?u zab?jstw policji Richmond, musz? pokona? wzajemne animozje, by uj?? zbrodniarza. Nie b?dzie to ?atwe, tym bardziej ?e kto? sabotuje dochodzenie od wewn?trz.
Determined to find out what happened to her former deputy chief, Jack Fielding, murdered six months earlier, Kay Scarpetta travels to the Georgia Prison for Women, where an inmate has information not only on Fielding, but also on a string of grisly killings. The murder of an Atlanta family years ago, a young woman on death row, and the inexplicable deaths of homeless people as far away as California seem unrelated. But Scarpetta discovers connections that compel her to conclude that what she thought ended with Fielding's death and an attempt on her own life is only the beginning of something far more destructive: a terrifying terrain of conspiracy and potential terrorism on an international scale. And she is the only one who can stop it.
It is the week before Christmas. The effects of the credit crunch have prompted Dr Kay Scarpetta to offer her services pro bono to New York City 's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. But in no time at all, her increased visibility seems to precipitate a string of dramatic and unsettling events. She is asked live on the air about the sensational case of Hannah Starr, who has vanished and is presumed dead. Moments later during the same broadcast, she receives a startling call-in from a former psychiatric patient of Benton Wesley's. When she returns after the show to the apartment where she and Benton live, she finds a suspicious package? possibly a bomb? waiting for her at the front desk. Soon the apparent threat on Scarpetta's life finds her embroiled in a deadly plot that includes a famous actor accused of an unthinkable sex crime and the disappearance of a beautiful millionairess with whom Scarpette'a niece Lucy seems to have shared a secret past…
