Final answer:
Patricia Cornwell's “Postmortem” features Kay Scarpetta as the female medical examiner, marking the beginning of a popular mystery series.
Step-by-step explanation:
“Postmortem” by Patricia Cornwell was the first mystery featuring the female medical examiner, Kay Scarpetta.
This character is central to a series of novels that follow her exploits as she solves crimes with her medical expertise. The other options given, A) Temperance Brennan, C) Tess Gerritsen, and D) Maura Isles, are characters or authors from other series.
Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series was groundbreaking at the time for featuring a female protagonist in a traditionally male-dominated role, and it paved the way for many forensic thrillers to come.