In addition to the themes of social justice and betrayal of the public welfare, Cornwell explores the nature and effects of grief. At the close of the previous novel in this series, Point of Origin (1998), Benton Wesley, Dr.
Kay Scarpetta's lover, fiance, and friend, was tortured, mutilated, and slaughtered by a maniacal serial killer who literally stole the faces of his victims as trophies that confirmed his power (twenty-seven faces were found at his residence). Black Notice explores the different ways in which characters deal with their grief for Benton.
Scarpetta, as the chief medical examiner for Virginia, buries herself in her duties, working long hours and driving herself to exhaustion. The novel begins with a missive from the dead, a letter Benton wrote Scarpetta and left with a friend (Senator Frank Lord).....
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