Cornwell employs the standard techniques of the detective genre—a series of murders, a set of clues, an investigator with knowledgeable (and not so knowledgeable) assistants, suspense, and shifting suspects.

To these she adds a surprise assault on the sleuth and an unusual resolution to two types of crimes and criminals. That resolution not only explains the criminal activities of Deputy Chief Bray and the capture of the Loup-Garou, but also resolves the political conflicts involved (Scarpetta's power over the crime scene reconfirmed; Marino's authority and position as Captain reasserted) and resolves grief, with Lucy coming to terms with her violence, Marino facing his grief-driven desire to smash and injure, and Scarpetta opening her heart to the possibility of a new love.

The novel's crime subgenre is that of the forensic sleuth, with scientific scene-of-thecrime discoveries and autopsy results essential to the progress of the plot. Cornwell...