Postmortem

P. Cornwell

Cornwell, a former reporter who has worked in a medical examiner's office, sets her first mystery in Richmond, VA. Chief medical officer for the commonwealth of Virginia, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, the narrator, and her lesbian cousin Lucy dwells on her efforts to identify "Mr. Nobody," the strangler of young women. The doctor devotes days and nights to gathering computer data and forensic clues to the killer, although she's hampered by male officials anxious to prove themselves superior to a woman. Predictably, Scarpetta's toil pays off, but not before the strangler attacks her; a reformed male chauvinist, conveniently nearby, saves her.