Body of Evidence

Its place in Kay Scarpetta

Body of Evidence is book 2 in the Kay Scarpetta series. It follows Postmortem. It is followed by All That Remains. See the full Kay Scarpetta reading order.

Kay Scarpetta is the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia (and, later, a federal forensic investigator and private consultant) whose autopsy table is where every case really begins. Patricia Cornwell's series is credited with popularising the modern forensic-procedural: DNA evidence, trace analysis and autopsy detail that were startlingly technical for genre fiction in 1990 and remain a core selling point today. Scarpetta investigates alongside her homicide-detective niece-in-all-but-name-later-partner Pete Marino…