The Dead Witness

In Qinghe County of the Great Qi Dynasty, Qin Zhao, an apprentice at the mortuary, is falsely accused of murdering the scholar Liu. With evidence and witnesses against him, he is to be beheaded at noon the next day. On the night before his execution, modern forensic pathologist Qin Zhao opens his eyes in this battered body. With less than eight hours left, he uses his twelve years of autopsy expertise to find a flaw in Liu's corpse—Liu was not killed by blunt force but was strangled with a silk cord and then moved to the alley to stage a scene of a street killing. The staging was thorough, but the dead don't cooperate. His only witness, fellow prisoner Sun San, dies in his cell that night. Qin Zhao publicly declares that Sun San was not a suicide but was murdered to silence him. This statement alerts both the female constable Shen Qinghe and the hidden killer. With a three-day deadline, Qin Zhao stakes his life: if he fails to solve the case, he will accept his execution; if he succeeds, he demands more than just his innocence. The art of autopsy can determine life and death; a keen eye can unravel mysteries. From death row to coroner, Qin Zhao's journey is just beginning. — Description from novelcodex.org