Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell

Dr. Kay Scarpetta has left Virginia behind to open a forensic pathology practice in Charleston, South Carolina. But her first case is a nightmare: a young tennis star is found murdered in Rome, her body bearing the hallmarks of a sadistic killer. As Scarpetta investigates, she faces a growing list of suspects, professional sabotage, and a chilling connection to her own past. Joined by Marino, Benton, and her niece Lucy, Scarpetta must outwit a predator who always seems one step ahead — and whose crimes are chronicled in a journal of death written in his own hand.