Forensic Mystery Thriller

Making rounds to homes one wet spring morning, veterinarian Dr. Kate Turner rescues a family's hamster from a vacuum cleaner then visits an estate whose owners breed champion Cavalier King Charles spaniels. Instead of sharing traditional tea with the couple, she confronts a bloody scene of bodies and 27 blue-ribbon dogs running wild. Police initially suspect a murder-suicide, but when Dr. Kate proves the famous best-in-show champion is missing, a darker reality intrudes.

When Hurricane Katrina strikes New Orleans, forensic entomologist Nick Polchak signs up to help with the recovery effort. He is known as the Bug Man for his knowledge of insects and what they can reveal about the dead. The government's mandate is clear—rescue the living first, recover the dead later. But something is very wrong in the toxic soup-bowl of post-Katrina New Orleans. Someone is using the cover of disaster to kill . . . hiding the victims of murder in the same watery grave as the victims of Katrina.

While the federal government is launching a national investigation on the “equity” of organ distribution, a female tech CEO flies across country to get a liver transplant. Soon, well-respected transplant nurse Sarah Golden and her best friend, Jackie, find themselves tangled up in an intense plot to uncover the answer to the question on everyone’s mind: Can you buy your way up to the top of the waiting list?

A tragic overdose, an institutional cover-up, and human trafficking. When Dr. Brad Parker helps investigate the death of a patient at a Portland, Maine cancer center, he senses a cover-up to protect the responsible physician.

Every time surgeons operate, they're betting their skills are better than the brain tumor, the faulty heart valve, the fractured femur. Sometimes, they're wrong. At Chelsea General, surgeons answer for bad outcomes at the Morbidity and Mortality conference, known as M & M. This extraordinary peek behind the curtain into what is considered the most secretive meeting in all of medicine is the back drop for the entire book.

A man is murdered in a back alley. Renowned forensic detective Lincoln Rhyme and his partner, Amelia Sachs, are left with a veritable mountain of evidence collected from the trash-filled alley, and their only lead is a young eyewitness: the man's eight-year-old son, who was riding along on his father's delivery route.

In the glamorous yet cutthroat world of dressage at Cypress Line Farm, Catalina Hale returns to reclaim her family's legacy and her mother's prized mare, High Wire. But her rival, the "Golden Girl" Marcia Clemmons, seems determined to take it all – including Catalina's ex-fiancé, Biff Quinn. When Marcia is suddenly and brutally murdered at a practice show, Catalina is framed, with evidence like her own mug pointing directly at her. As suspicion swirls and time runs out, Catalina must expose a tangled web of deceit, blackmail, and deadly secrets involving a mysterious sponsor, poisoned ...

Dr. Emma Steele is baffled when she finds herself dressed in mental health blues, tied to a stretcher, in her own ER. She was hunting for a killer. She found him. Just as he found her. He planted evidence accusing her of his crimes. She’s innocent, so she’ll be free soon. She has friends who’ll help. Twice wrong. Things can’t get any worse. They do.

Across London, hospital patients are dying - in shockingly unnatural circumstances. A sadistic young woman is targeting them as they lie helpless in their beds, eking out every last sensation of pain as their lives ebb to an excruciating close. The killer is a sadist, but careful too, so the police bring in forensic psychologist Dr. Alex Madison to track down what is clearly an extraordinary and damaged mind.

Sharon Stevenson is a forensic psychiatrist. Her job is to decide whether a patient is of sound enough mind to stand trial, not whether they did or didn’t commit a crime. But Sharon is also a mother grieving the disappearance of her seventeen-year-old daughter, Maddie, who has never been found. And what if the man sitting before her, who has been charged with the murders of several women, also claimed the life of her sweet girl? It’s time to find out the truth.

In the morgue of a Philadelphia hospital, a group of physicians open a coffin and uncover the corpse of a beautiful young woman. What they see takes their breath away. Within days, one of them strongly suspects that he knows the woman's identity - and the horrifying events that led to her death.

Running away from a past she’d rather forget, Doctor Alison Wilson has moved to a new town to take up the role of Medical Officer at failing hospital St Margaret’s. Tasked with shaking things up, she quickly learns that things are worse than they initially seem: patient records are in disarray, staff morale is low, and there’s something afoot that she can’t quite put her finger on As Alison starts to dig into the hospital’s past, she gradually discovers a trail of lies that runs deeper and darker than she could have ever imagined.

DEEP BENEATH THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO, a murder victim is dumped at an archaeological dig. A note pinned to his shirt warns we will bury you. The question is, who is you? Desperate to learn what happened—and what might happen next—investigators bring in forensic geologists Cassie Oldfield and Walter Shaws. They have a reputation for reading the rocks with an X-ray eye, and unlocking a case.

Scientist Jeannie Ferrami stumbles across a baffling mystery: Steve and Dan appear to be identical twins but were born on different days, to different mothers. One is a law student, the other a convicted murderer. They seem a world apart, but as Jeannie begins to fall in love with Steve, she finds her professional - and personal - future threatened.

THE TRAGEDY AT RICHMOND: A COMMUNITY SHATTERED, YET UNBROKEN In the heart of a serene Richmond neighborhood, a night of tranquility was torn apart by an unthinkable act of violence. The Richmond massacre left a close-knit community reeling, forever scarred by loss. Families stood amidst the wreckage of their lives, grappling with heart-wrenching grief and questions that echoed in the silence: How could such horror invade our peaceful home? Where do we find the strength to carry on? The pain was unbearable, the questions relentless: The shock of senseless loss, as loved ones were ripped away...

Dr. Mallory Hayes, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) medical investigator, is a committed physician and researcher quietly battling height and air-flight anxiety. When a tsunami devastates the coast of Southern California, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) establishes a camp to house the tens of thousands of people displaced by the disaster, and the Army is brought in to provide medical services.

After the tragic loss of their young son to a rare genetic disorder, John and Naomi discover they both carry a rogue gene. Having another child by conventional means is too much risk to bear. When they find geneticist Dr. Leo Dettore, it seems like the answer to their prayers. Every aspect of the child can be chosen and manufactured, from height and eye color to intelligence and sporting prowess. But realizing the danger too late, Naomi is already pregnant when they understand the nightmare world they are entering.

In a house under renovation, a plumber uncovers a cellar no one knew about, and makes a rather grisly discovery - a decapitated chicken, animal bones, and cauldrons containing beads, feathers, and other relics of religious ceremonies. In the center of the shrine is the skull of a teenage girl. Meanwhile, on a nearby lakeshore, the headless body of a teenage boy is found by a man walking his dog.

Colleen McElroy grew up wealthy and pampered, the daughter of a prominent society family in Lexington, Kentucky. But her privileged upbringing could not prepare or protect her from her cruel and abusive first husband. Although her calamitous marriage left her with physical and emotional scars that have yet to heal, they haven't prevented her from doing her best to rebuild her life.

Michael Palmer, a skilled physician and veteran of big city emergency rooms, burst on the literary scene with The Sisterhood, a riveting medical thriller that instantly climbed the New York Times best-seller list. Palmer followed up that smashing debut with a string of major best sellers, each one revealing a new aspect of his talent for medical terror. Now, for the first time, three of Michael Palmer's most gripping medical thrillers appear together in a single volume.