Dr. Kay Scarpetta works as a senior forensic analyst for CNN. She is also donating her time to New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Her producer wants her to launch her a TV show called THE SCARPETTA FACTOR, and in the meantime, she is embroiled in a plot which includes a famous actor accused of an unthinkable sex crime and the disappearance of a beautiful millionaire with whom her niece shares a secret past.