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Chief Medical Examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta returns to Virginia where these books first started many, many years ago. She's surrounded by all of her family - familiar characters for those of us who have been reading this series since the beginning.

Starting out, a murdered woman is in her morgue cooler. The unknown woman had her throat cut down to the spine and hands severed. Sounds violently personal and Scarpetta is determined to get justice for the victim.

As another story line, Scarpetta and husband Benton Wesley are called to a meeting with the president and his top staff at the White House due to murders in space.

I've been waiting nearly five years for this Scarpetta book while Cornwell has been pursuing other characters that I don't like in other series. The Scarpetta series was one of the first I became addicted to when I switched from romance to mysteries about 30 years ago. This book is written in typical Cornwell style and the forensics are excellent. I would not advise anyone to begin the series with this book. Start at the beginning.

Cornwell has created an imaginative crime scene in outer space that has to be investigated remotely. Scarpetta did a great job.

I liked the older books in this series better where Scarpetta was more heavily involved in the autopsies and the crime scenes, although some of this is in this one. I thought Cornwell hit a slump in her books several years ago and I'm glad to see her getting her groove back.