Dublin, Ireland and Richmond, Virginia: separated by thhousands of miles - linked by murder. For Dr Kay Scarpetta, a lecture stint in Ireland provides the perfect oppurtunity to find out if the murders on the both sides of the Atlantic are indeed connected. Five dismembered, beheaded bodies were found in Ireland years ago - now four have been discovered in the States.

But the tenth corpse in Virginia is different. There are vital discrepancies, and an indication that the elderly victim was already seriously ill. A copy-cat killing. Goulish, perhaps, but not unusual.