Kay Scarpetta wird von ihrem Nachfolger in Richmond, Virginia, gebeten, bei einem rätselhaften Todesfall zu helfen. Ein vierzehnjähriges Mädchen ist scheinbar ohne erkennbare Ursache gestorben. Hat man bei der Autopsie womöglich etwas übersehen? Scarpetta ist entsetzt über die Schlamperei, die an ihrer alten Wirkungsstätte Einzug gehalten hat. Als sie eine weitere Leiche in Augenschein nimmt, entdeckt sie eine alarmierende Parallele zum Fall des toten Mädchens: feine Spuren von Knochenstaub auf dem Körper. Allem Anschein nach hat der Täter im Krematorium der Gerichtsmedizin gearbeitet …

A woman has vanished while digging a dinosaur bone bed in the remote wilderness of Canada. Somehow, the only evidence has made its way to the inbox of Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta, over two thousand miles away in Boston. She has no idea why. But as events unfold with alarming speed, Scarpetta begins to suspect that the paleontologist’s disappearance is connected to a series of crimes much closer to home: a gruesome murder, inexplicable tortures, and trace evidence from the last living creatures of the dinosaur age.When she turns to those around her, Scarpetta finds that the danger and suspicion have penetrated even her closest circles. Her niece Lucy speaks in riddles. Her lead investigator, Pete Marino, and FBI forensic psychologist and husband, Benton Wesley, have secrets of their own. Feeling alone and betrayed, Scarpetta is tempted by someone from her past as she tracks a killer both cunning and cruel.This is Kay Scarpetta as you have never seen her before.The Bone Bed is a must read for any fan of this series, or an ideal starting point for new readers.

It is the week before Christmas. The effects of the credit crunch have prompted Dr Kay Scarpetta to offer her services pro bono to New York City 's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. But in no time at all, her increased visibility seems to precipitate a string of dramatic and unsettling events. She is asked live on the air about the sensational case of Hannah Starr, who has vanished and is presumed dead. Moments later during the same broadcast, she receives a startling call-in from a former psychiatric patient of Benton Wesley's. When she returns after the show to the apartment where she and Benton live, she finds a suspicious package? possibly a bomb? waiting for her at the front desk. Soon the apparent threat on Scarpetta's life finds her embroiled in a deadly plot that includes a famous actor accused of an unthinkable sex crime and the disappearance of a beautiful millionairess with whom Scarpette'a niece Lucy seems to have shared a secret past…