Unnatural Exposure

Kay Scarpetta is called to a scene where dismembered torso pieces have been found with signs of a particularly virulent disease, and the case quickly expands from a murder investigation to a public health crisis as more body parts surface across the country. The killer is operating with medical knowledge and apparent access to dangerous pathogens, and Scarpetta must trace the source before the disease spreads beyond anyone's ability to contain it. Patricia Cornwell's eighth Scarpetta novel blends forensic investigation with bioterrorism thriller in a way that proved prescient.

C.J. Critt brings the clinical authority that Scarpetta's voice requires, maintaining the character's controlled professional manner even as the investigation escalates to national emergency scale. The forensic detail is rendered without becoming gratuitous, and Critt keeps the personal relationships that run through the series' long arc visible beneath the procedural surface. At just over eleven hours, this entry demonstrates the series' capacity to expand its scope beyond individual crime.