Blindsight

Dr. Laurie Montgomery has just taken over as Chief Medical Examiner at the New York City morgue when a pattern starts to bother her. Young, affluent people keep turning up dead from drug overdoses, and the cases look too tidy. The circumstances fit together a little too conveniently.

As she digs further, her inquiry crosses paths with NYPD Detective Lou Soldato. He is already hunting Paul Cerino, a ruthless narcotics kingpin whose influence reaches into the city's highest circles. What Laurie finds in the morgue and what Lou chases on the street begin to point at the same people.

The novel is a medical thriller, first published in 1992 and written by Robin Cook. It moves between several points of view: Laurie, Lou, and the criminals themselves. Seeing the story from the side of those who profit from the trade gives the reader more information than either investigator has.

The pace is brisk, and the tone is that of a procedural built around forensic work and police pursuit. Addiction and power sit at its centre, along with the lengths people go to in order to protect their own interests.