Patricia Cornwell turns from forensics to police procedures in Hornet's Nest.
The gritty, heroic life of big-city police is seen through the eyes of three leading crimefighters from Charlotte, North Carolina—Police Chief Judy Hammer, Deputy Chief Virginia West, and ambitious young reporter Andy Brazil.

Angered over the governor's order on speed traps, the eccentric inhabitants of the Isle of Tangier, off the coast of Virginia, declare war on their own state, and it is up to Judy Hammer, the new superintendent of the state police, to stop the crisis.

Following in the path of her blockbuster Kay Scarpetta thrillers, Patricia Cornwell's novel is a testimony to the singular versatility and narrative power of one of the country's best-read storytellers. In Southern Cross, she casts her shrewd and knowing eye at the men and women in blue, in a story of corruption, scandal, and murder. Richmond, Virginia, is a city rich in Southern history, yet overrun by such modern-day problems as drug trafficking...