Medical examiner Kay Scarpetta's investigation of a killer who uses fire to hide his crimes turns personal when she learns that her old nemesis, Carrie Grethen, is somehow involved.

Dr. Kay Scarpetta, working for the National Forensic Academy, joins her colleagues in a bizarre case that leads them on a trail of horrific crimes from Florida to Boston.

When a dead body is found in the cargo hold of a ship arriving from Belgium, Dr. Kay Scarpetta is called in to investigate and she soon finds herself trying to outwit a brutal killer who calls himself The Werewolf.

Former South Carolina forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta takes a case in New York in which a patient in a psychiatric prison asks to speak to her about wounds he claims were inflicted during a murder he did not commit, and after talking with the man, she starts to believe he is telling the truth and a serial killer is on the loose.

Dr. Kay Scarpetta, who works as the senior forensic analyst for CNN, offers her services pro bono to the chief medical examiner of New York City, and when she becomes involved in a strange plot involving a famous actor and is asked to launch her own television show, she worries about her future as a professional.

Medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta is anticipating a quiet New Year's Eve when she is called to investigate the death of a reporter found in the murky waters of a Navy shipyard. Her findings about the cause of death sets the FBI onto the story the dead man was following, leading Scarpetta and everyone involved into the hands of a cult fanatic.