Dr. Kay Scarpetta, now freelancing from south Florida, returns to the city that turned its back on her five years ago. Richmond, Virginia’s recently appointed chief medical examiner claims that he needs Scarpetta’s help to solve a perplexing crime.

When she arrives, however, Scarpetta finds that nothing is as she expected: her former lab is in the final stages of demolition; the inept chief isn’t the one who requested her after all; her old assistant chief has developed personal problems that he won’t reveal; and a glamorous FBI agent, whom Scarpetta dislikes instantly, meddles with the case.

Deprived of assistance from colleagues Benton and Lucy, who are embroiled in what first appears to be an unrelated attempted rape by a stalker, Scarpetta is faced with investigating the death of a fourteen-year-old girl, working with the smallest pieces of evidence—traces that only the most thorough hunters can identify.

She must follow the twisting leads and track the strange details in order to make the dead speak—and to reveal the sad truth that may be more than even she can bear…


最暢銷的法醫小說系列，全球銷售突破一億冊！
翻譯為三十六國語言、熱銷一百二十國
刑事鑑識與法醫探案的先驅，「CSI犯罪現場」相關熱門影集取材原點

也許是他對死亡過於著迷，
所以製造了這一連串殺戮。

一名身體健康的十四歲小女孩離奇死亡，她全身赤裸、姿勢怪異地趴在自己的床上，身上毫無外傷。女法醫史卡佩塔接到維吉尼亞州新任首席法醫要求協助的電話，回到五年前背棄她的城市──里奇蒙。

然而當她抵達之後，發現所有的事情都在預料之外，現任無能的首席法醫別有居心；法醫實驗室不似過去井然有序；昔日合作密切的同事深受私人問題所擾，拒她於千里之外；甚至連不相干的聯邦調查局也暗地涉入這件案子。

在此同時，班頓和露西捲入一樁看似毫無關聯的跟蹤狂攻擊事件，然而微物證據的追蹤結果顯示事實似乎另有隱情。這一切只有靠史卡佩塔抽絲剝繭，憑藉不著邊際、匪夷所思的細節，讓死者說出超過她所能忍受的悲傷真相。

超越《屍體會說話》，挑戰鑑識科技極限之作！ 火力全開的寫作功力。 ──《每日快報》

犯罪細節雖然血腥殘酷，但康薇爾的小說讀起來卻意外的寬慰人心。 ──《獨立報》

儘管仿效者眾，但康薇爾還是這個類型裡的一把手。 ──《鏡報》

康薇爾的所有作品都像是添了丙烷燃油似的緊繃懸疑，一杯杯用腎上腺素和恐懼調合的雞尾酒。她緊攫住讀者的心，而且總是有能耐吸引你進入她那孤絕、幽閉的世界，讓你親身泅泳於史卡佩塔的險境。女法醫的恐懼極具傳染力，你的腎上腺素不得不隨著她而竄升。 ──《泰唔士報》