The Scarpetta Factor

Dr. Kay Scarpetta has made a name for herself, and the week before Christmas she finds out what that costs. With the economy sliding, she volunteers her services without pay to New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, even though she is already stretched thin by her work as senior forensic analyst for CNN. The extra exposure seems to set off a run of odd and unsettling incidents.

Things turn dangerous when a suspicious package, possibly a bomb, is left at the front desk of the building where Scarpetta lives with her husband, Benton. What looks like a threat against her soon draws her into a bewildering case. A famous actor stands accused of a terrible sex crime, and a wealthy, beautiful woman has vanished, a woman with whom Scarpetta's niece, Lucy, appears to share a hidden past.

Meanwhile her CNN producer wants to build a television show around her, to be called The Scarpetta Factor. Given everything unfolding around her, Scarpetta worries that fame will convince the public she has some special gift for solving every case. She also wonders whether celebrity will flatten her into a stereotype of herself. This entry in Patricia Cornwell's long-running forensic series follows a familiar cast down a road none of them have walked before.