Discover the "dazzling...fascinating" (Los Angeles Times) novel that launched the popular Kay Scarpetta series, from the New York Times #1 bestselling crime writer Patricia Cornwell.

Patricia Cornwell's debut novel Postmortem introduces one of crime fiction's most compelling characters: gutsy medical examiner Kay Scarpetta. Cornwell's gift for combining cutting-edge criminology with nerve-shattering suspense makes this book a true modern classic.

Under cover of night in Richmond, Virginia, a monster strikes, leaving a gruesome trail of stranglings that has paralyzed the city. Kay Scarpetta suspects the worst: a deliberate campaign by a brilliant serial killer whose signature offers precious few clues. With an unerring eye, she calls on the latest advances in forensic research to unmask the madman. But this investigation will test Kay like no other, because it's being sabotaged from within--and someone wants her dead.