"According to Confucius, ‘an educated woman is a worthless woman’, but Tan Yunxian – born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separation and loneliness – is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. She begins her training in medicine with her grandmother and, as she navigates the male world of medicine, requiring tact and diplomacy, she struggles against the confining world of her class. From a young age, Yunxian learns about...

Forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta has just inherited one of the most notorious cases of her career. Two years ago, a former beauty queen's body washed up on the shore of Wallops Island, Virginia. She was last seen on a boat with her fianč, who has since been held in jail while awaiting trial. Scarpetta must act as the expert witness for the case, an investigation previously botched by another forensic pathologist. After a grueling cross-examination...

"When Cassie Klein goes to an off-campus bar to escape her school's Family Weekend, she isn't looking for a hookup-it just happens. Buying a drink for a stranger turns into what should be an uncomplicated, amazing one-night stand. But then the next morning rolls around and her friend drags her along to meet her mom-the hot, older woman Cassie slept with. Erin Bennett came to Family Weekend to get closer to her daughter, not have a one-night stand...

An officer is shot point-blank in the Grant County police station and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver is wounded, setting off a terrifying hostage situation with medical examiner Sara Linton at the center. Working outside the station, Lena Adams, newly reinstated to the force, and Frank Wallace, Jeffrey's second in command, must try to piece together who the shooter is and how to rescue their friends before Jeffrey dies. For the sins of the past have...

Forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta has come almost full circle, returning to Virginia as the chief medical examiner, the state where she launched her storied career. Finding herself the new girl in town once again after being away for many years, she's inherited not only an overbearing secretary, but also a legacy of neglect and potential corruption. She and her husband Benton Wesley, now a forensic psychologist with the U.S. Secret Service, have...

Gillian Flynn says, Karin Slaughter is simply one of the best thriller writers working today. Saturday night dates at the skating rink have been a tradition in the small southern town of Heartsdale for as long as anyone can remember, but when a teenage quarrel explodes into a deadly shoot-out, Sara Linton--the town's pediatrician and medical examiner--finds herself entangled in a terrible tragedy. What seemed at first to be a horrific but individual...

Body of evidence: After months of menacing phone calls and feeling that her every move is being watched, successful writer Beryl Madison flees Key West when a terrifying message is scratched on her car. But the very night she returns to Richmond, she deactivates her burglar alarm and opens her door to someone who nearly decapitates her. Why did she let him in, wonders Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta? And why is Beryl's latest manuscript missing?...

Dr. Ellie Sullivan is the primary witness in the shooting of an FBI agent in pursuit of wanted criminals, a couple identified as the Landrys. The Landrys have been captured, and she'll be called to testify. But they've been captured before, and each time the witnesses are scared into silence-- or disappear before they can take the stand.

"Trainee doctor Sasha Johnson hurries through the crowd in London's historic Russell Square. Someone jostles her as they brush past. A moment later, Sasha stumbles, then collapses. When detectives Duncan Kincaid and Doug Cullen are called to the scene, they discover that she's been stabbed. Kincaid immediately calls his detective wife, Gemma Jones, who is on the task force for knife crimes. Along with Gemma's partner, the team works to unravel the...

Dr. Leigh Culver loves practicing medicine in Timberlake, Colorado. It is a much-needed change of pace from her stressful life in Chicago. The only drawback is she misses her Aunt Helen, the woman who raised her. But it's time Leigh has her independence, and she hopes the beauty of the Colorado wilderness will entice her aunt to visit often. Helen Culver is an independent woman who lovingly raised her sister's orphaned child. Now, with Leigh grown,...