Historic preservationist Ashley Wilkes finds her friend Valentine Russo murdered at the desk of Valentine's art gallery, and the walls bare of art.

When two skeletons turn up in one of Wilmington's antebellum mansions, historic preservationist Ashley Wilkes suspects there is more to the discovery than meets

The clues to a series of remorseless killings go up in smoke—and only Kay Scarpetta can find them in this #1 New York Times bestseller from Patricia Cornwell.