Body of Evidence

Deftly crafted and superbly detailed, Body of Evidence delivers gripping suspense laced with powerful realism.

Late one night Beryl Madison turns off her burglar alarm and opens her door to the man who has stalked and terrorized her for months. Hours later, her brutally mutilated body lies in the city morgue. As chief medical examiner Kay Scarpetta begins searching for the microscopic clues to the killer’s identity, one question keeps nagging her: why did Beryl let him in?

To find the answer Kay must immerse herself in Beryl’s life—in her murky relationship with a reclusive author, in her unfinished tell-all memoirs, and in the shady dealings of her unscrupulous agent. An investigation that begins under a microscope in a forensic laboratory swiftly becomes an all-too-real nightmare for Kay. How closely can she follow Beryl’s footsteps before the dead woman’s terror becomes Kay’s own?

Packed with unsparing authenticity, Patricia Cornwell’s bestseller offers a compelling combination of forensics, politics, and mystery.