Trace by Patricia Cornwell

"Kate Scarpetta, a former Chief medical examiner in Virginia, Richmond, now resides in South Florida. She, along with her good friend, Marino, also formerly of Virginia, are summoned to her former workplace by the new chief medical examiner, Dr. Joel Marcus. Scarpetta and Marino are asked to investigate the murder of a 14 year old girl named Gilly Paulsson. While trying to pry the details of the murder from Gilly's game-playing, supposedly grief-stricken mother, Scarpetta and Marino must deal with Dr. Marcus' political machinations in his attempt to destroy Scarpetta's unassailable reputation and cover up his own incompetence. Then, Marino gets seduced into playing a game with Suz, Gilly's mother and is wrongly accused of rape. An added twist occurs when a construction worker is run over by a tractor and killed on site of her old building. Somehow, the same trace evidence found on the worker's body is also found in Gilly Paulsson's mouth.

Meanwhile, Benton Wesley, Scarpetta's lover, and Lucy, Scarpetta's niece, are investigating a seemingly unrelated case of attempted murder of Henri, Lucy's employee and friend. Lucy runs The Last Precinct, which is an undercover organization which investigates FBI-calibre cases in confidence.

As Kay Scarpetta and Marino sift through the rubble that is left of her former place of employment, Scarpetta finds that not only is the building falling apart, so are the capabilities of the new chief medical examiner and the morale of her former staff. One former staff member, in particular, seeks revenge against Dr. Scarpetta and her feisty niece Lucy for causing his disability, a lung condition which makes it difficult to breathe. While Scarpetta and Marino attempt to circumvent Suz's games, and Benton and Lucy get closer to the truth about Henri's attacker, the killer methodically sets up his final revenge. "


Another good read by Cornwell. Coincidence... small world... just weird... some of my thoughts while reading this. Who would think in this small world of ours that so many lives will cross and for what weird reasons. Great read.