Andy Broussard, the portly New Orleans medical examiner, obviously loves food. Less apparent to the casual observer is his hatred of murderers. Together with his gorgeous sidekick, psychologist Kit Franklyn, the two make a powerful, although improbable, mystery solving duo. When the beautiful Kit goes to meet an anonymous stranger-who's been sending her roses-the man drops dead at her feet before she can even get his name. Game on. Broussard learns that the man carried a lethal pathogen similar to the deadly Ebola virus. Soon, another body turns up with the same bug. Panic is imminent as the threat of a pandemic is more real than ever before. The danger is especially acute because the carrier is mobile, his identity is an absolute shocker, he knows he's a walking weapon and he's on a quest to find Broussard. Kit isn't safe either. When she investigates her mystery suitor further, she runs afoul of a cold blooded killer every bit as deadly as the one searching for Broussard.