Unnatural Exposure -- Patricia Cornwell

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is the chief medical examiner of Virginia. In her line of work, she has seen the horrors of what people can do to each other, and nothing seems to surprise her anymore. Nothing, that is, until the torso of a deceased elderly woman that was found in a landfill is determined to have been infected with a smallpox-like disease. When Kay begins receiving mysterious emails from someone who refers to him or herself as “deadoc,” and when those emails contain graphic images of the very torso lying in her morgue, Kay begins to realize she has a dangerous killer on her hands; and this killer is different. This killer has access to a virus with plague-like potential that could affect not just Virginia and the United States, but ultimately, the world.

When Dr. Scarpetta is called to a local landfill for the collection of a human torso, she knows there is a possibility that the case is connected to a serial killer case in Ireland. But as more examination is done in her lab, she finds too many differences for the torso to be a victim of the serial killer, and she realizes someone else is responsible for this victim’s death. When she receives email through her AOL account that includes a disturbing picture of the very torso – determined to be that of an elderly female -- she has in her lab, she realizes the murderer has a sick agenda. And when Kay is called out to a small island off the coast of Virginia to examine a dead body there, she realizes that both the body on the island and the body in her lab are both infected with a smallpox-type disease, and she comes to the horrible knowledge that the crimes are related, and, worse yet, that she has been exposed to whatever infected these women. Suddenly Kay’s case turns into a national emergency and she finds herself under lockdown in a military facility as she waits to display symptoms of a deadly disease.

After several days of no symptoms, Kay is released and takes samples of the virus from the bodies to the CDC in Atlanta. Upon her return to Virginia, however, Kay begins to get sick. Unsure of what ails her, and terrified of knowing the truth, Kay throws herself into discovering the identity of “deadoc” who continues to communicate with her through chat rooms. The terror that grips the nation as news of a plague-like virus killing people in Virginia escapes creates a need for speed, and when Kay solves the mystery of who would tamper with a disease so deadly and begin to infect people with it, she realizes that not everything, or everyone, is what she thought.