Newly ensconced in his Santa Fe abode with a lovely female companion, Stone Barrington receives a call from an old friend requesting a delicate favor. A situation has arisen that could escalate into an explosive quagmire, and only someone with Stone’s stealth and subtlety can contain the damage. At the center of these events is an impressive gentleman whose star is on the rise and who would like to get Stone in his corner. He is charming and ambitious and has friends in high places --- the kind of man who seems to be a sure bet. But in the fickle circles of power, fortunes rise and fall on the turn of a dime, and it may turn out that Stone holds the key not just to one man’s fate, but to the fate of the nation.

On an early autumn day, Elisa Vandersteel is killed while riding her bicycle along the Charles River. Dr. Kay Scarpetta decides at the scene that this is no accidental Act of God. Her investigation becomes complicated when she begins receiving a flurry of bizarre poems from an anonymous cyberbully who calls himself Tailend Charlie. When the 10th poem arrives exactly 24 hours after Elisa’s death, Scarpetta begins to suspect the harasser is involved, and sounds the alarm to her investigative partner, Pete Marino, and her husband, FBI analyst Benton Wesley. She also enlists the help of her niece, Lucy. But to Scarpetta’s surprise, tracking the slippery Tailend Charlie is nearly impossible, even for someone as brilliant as her niece.

A talented young skater, a doctor and a teacher have been shot dead at Central Park’s ice-skating rink. A review of the security videos reveals that the victims were killed with a tactical laser rifle fired by a sniper, who could have been miles away when the trigger was pulled. Though the list of locations where the shooter could have set up seems endless, the number of people with that particular skill set is finite. Eve Dallas’ husband, Roarke, has unlimited resources --- and genius --- at his disposal. When his computer program leads Eve to the location of the sniper, she learns a shocking fact: Someone is being trained by an expert in the science of killing, and they have an agenda.

New York City is one of the fashion capitals of the world, well-known for its glamour and style. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the runway, where American haute couture continually astounds with its creativity, daring and innovation in the name of beauty. Yet high fashion means high stakes, as Alex Cooper quickly discovers when businessman and designer Wolf Savage is found dead in an apparent suicide, mere days before the biggest show of his career. When the man's daughter insists Savage’s death was murder, the case becomes more than a media sensation: It is a race to find a killer in a world created entirely out of fantasy and illusion.

Andrea Boyle moved to Seattle to give her 17-year-old nephew, Spencer, a fresh start after the death of his parents. Andrea has found her own new beginning with Luke, a successful playwright and father of a teenage son, Damon. When a tragedy befalls Damon, it's just the beginning of a nightmare that unfolds. But the worst is yet to come once a dark secret from Spencer's past is exposed. And when Luke is brutally attacked, both of their futures are at stake. Now it's up to Andrea to prove Spencer's innocence to the police --- and to herself. Because for reasons she has revealed to no one, even Andrea can't help questioning the truth --- and fearing that she may be next to pay the ultimate price.

It’s been 10 years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace. Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinne’s case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched. Told backwards --- Day 15 to Day 1 --- from the time Nic’s younger neighbor, Annaleise, goes missing, Nic works to unravel the truth about her disappearance, revealing shocking truths about Nic's friends and family, and what really happened to Corinne that night 10 years ago.

Stone Barrington’s latest lady friend is full of surprises, but she also has some unfinished business with a temperamental man who believes Stone is an intolerable obstacle in the way of his goals. In a cat-and-mouse game that trails from sun-drenched Bel-Air to a peaceful European estate and gorgeous Santa Fe, Stone and his friend remain just one step ahead of their opponent. But their pursuer is not a man who can stand to be thwarted. Tensions are mounting and may soon reach the boiling point.

Television journalist Delaney Wright is on the brink of stardom after she begins covering a sensational murder trial. She should be thrilled, yet her growing desire to locate her birth mother consumes her thoughts. When Delaney’s friends, Alvirah Meehan and her husband, Willy, offer to look into the mystery surrounding her birth, they uncover a shocking secret they do not want to reveal. On trial for murder is Betsy Grant, widow of a wealthy doctor who has been an Alzheimer’s victim for eight years. As the trial unfolds, and the damning evidence against Betsy piles up, Delaney is convinced that Betsy is not guilty and frantically tries to prove her innocence.

When Ali Reynolds’ parents lose their life savings to a Ponzi scheme, her father goes to confront his longtime friend and financial advisor, only to stumble into the scene of a bloody double homicide. With her father suddenly a prime suspect, Ali and her husband work to clear her father’s name, while at the same time seeking justice for her parents as well as the scheme’s other suddenly impoverished victims, one of whom is a stone cold killer.

Detective Sam Kovac is distracted from his troubles by an especially brutal double homicide: a prominent university professor and his wife, bludgeoned and hacked to death in their home with a ceremonial Japanese samurai sword. Detective Nikki Liska’s case --- the unsolved murder of a decorated sex crimes detective --- is less of a distraction: Twenty five years later, there is little hope of finding the killer who got away. As the trails of two crimes a quarter of a century apart twist and cross, Kovac and Liska race to find answers before a killer strikes again.