A FOREIGN SHIP ARRIVES IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, AMONST ITS CARGO AN UNIDENTIFIED BODY.
While Lucy Farinelli goes undercover in Miami to bring down a notorious criminal cartel, Dr Kay Scarpetta and Pete Marino discover a body in a cargo ship recently arrived from Belgium at Virgnia.s Deep Water Terminal in Richmond. Initially it seems as though it may be the decomposed remains of a stowaway, but Scarpetta.s post mortem reveals neither a cause of death nor an identification. So the victim.s personal effects and an odd tattoo take Scarpetta on a hunt for infomation that eventually leads her and Marino to Interpol.s headquarters in Lyon.
At first the highly confidential information they receive seems incredible, a bizarre trail of conspiracy and deceit, but inexorably the facts reveal a web of privileged and criminal arrogance which puts Dr Kay Scarpetta directly in harm.s way, and places her and those she holds most dear at mortal risk.