"Post Mortem" is the first in the Kay Scarpetta series. Scarpetta and her associates are on the trail of a serial killer who kills by strangulation. Before the book is over, the killer attacks Scarpetta and almost kills her.
This is the fourth in the Scarpetta series, and is important as the volume in which Kay's niece Lucy comes to the forefront and begins to shine as a full-grown character in her own right. Someone is hacking into Scarpetta's computer files, and it's up to Lucy's computer genius mind to solve the case and find the traitor who works for Kay.
This novel is the fifth in the series, and it takes a turn by fleshing out the characters into flawed human beings. Lucy is accused of crimes by her employer, the FBI, Kay is having an affair with Benton, Marino is having an affair with a victim's mother and a killer that got away in a previous novel is back.
This volume is a study in paranoia. A forensic employee is bent on destroying Scarpetta's career, a mysterious perpetrator sends virtual crime scenes to Kay as clues, Lucy is outed as a lesbian by someone who hates Kay and five victims in Ireland match with four similar ones at home.
An ex-lover of Lucy's, who is bent on destroying both herself and Kay, is the main villain in this piece. "Point of Origin" is probably best known as the volume that killed off main character Benton Wesley in a horrific fire.
In "Trace," we learn of the conspiracy perpetrated by Benton Wesley to cover up his own death because of the danger to Scarpetta. Wesley is alive, and Kay will discover this although her reaction is not what most readers would expect from this reunion.
"Book of the Dead," roundly panned as being formulaic and boring, is notable mostly because of the break in the relationship between Scarpetta and Marino in the worst way possible. Marino attacks Scarpetta and attempts to rape her in a drug- and alcohol-fueled frenzy. Cornwell takes a totally unexpected turn in this volume.