Autopsy

Forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta returns to Virginia as the chief medical examiner. It's the state where she launched her career, but her new job means she's inherited not only an overbearing secretary, but also a legacy of neglect and potential corruption. Called to a scene by railroad tracks where a woman's body has been shockingly displayed, her throat cut down to the spine, Scarpetta's investigation leads close to her own historic neighborhood. At the same time a catastrophe occurs in a top-secret laboratory in outer space, endangering at least two scientists aboard, and as a member of the Doomsday Commission that specializes in sensitive national security cases, Scarpetta is summoned to the White House and tasked with finding out exactly what happened. -- adapted from back cover