In the murky shadows of an alley lies a femaleś severed hand. On the tenement rooftop above is the corpse belonging to that hand, a red-haired woman dressed all in black, her head nearly severed. Two strands of silver hair--not human--cling to her body. They are Rizzoliś only clues, but theyŕe enough for her and medical examiner Maura Isles to make the startling discovery: that this violent death had a chilling prequel.

A beautiful young womans corpse is found dumped in a garbage-strewn alley. Now laid out in the office of medical examiner Kat Novak, the unidentified body betrays no secrets-except for a matchbook clutched in one stiff hand, seven numbers scrawled inside. When a second victim is discovered, Kat begins to fear that a serial killer is stalking the streets, using a deadly drug to do his dirty work. The police are skeptical. The mayor wont listen. One...

-- Includes an excerpt from Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli & Isles novel Last to Die.