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As tensions mount for the case to be decided, Scarpetta must determine who is out there, lurking in the shadows. When POTUS arrives in town and an attempt is made on his life, Scarpetta knows that this is not your run of the mill killer, but rather some terror cell out for something larger. Someone is surely trying to send Scarpetta a message, while making an impact on the television news cycle as well. It will take everything in her being to keep Kay Scarpetta from letting justice be perverted, though everything comes together to unveil the truth about another crime that has haunted her for the past few years. Cornwell does a masterful job in this piece to resurrect some of her past greatness in the Scarpetta series. Maybe it's because it's a timely topic with more questions than answers that's intrigued me for at least a couple of years now. Maybe it's because forensic pathologist Dr. Kay Scarpetta doesn't seem quite as paranoid as usual (even though in this case, her suspicions may be rooted in fact). Whatever the reason, this, the 26th book in the popular series, is another one I really didn't want to put down.
At this point we are 73% through the book at this point and it has not even been 24 hours since the book began. I enjoyed reading this book and made a promise to read more of the previous novels in this series. I would rate it at 3.5 stars but some of that is probably due to not being fully up to speed with the series.
Patricia Cornwell Press Reviews
Patricia Cornwell sold her first novel, Postmortem, in 1990 while working as a computer analyst at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. Postmortem, was the first bona fide forensic thriller. It paved the way for an explosion of entertainment featuring in all things forensic across film, television and literature. The book opens with Chief Medical Examiner, Kay Scarpetta, being grilled on the stand in a highly emotive murder case. A man is on trial for his life after the body of his girlfriend was found floating in the river after being with him on his boat the night before, & supporters of both sides are in the courtroom & squaring up to each other around Virginia. The prosecutor is trying to make Scarpetta look cold & indifferent to the case & that this has made her sloppy in her interpretation of the evidence, & the judge is giving him latitude way beyond what is normal. Forensic pathologist Dr. Kay Scarpetta is a reluctant star witness in a sensational televised murder trial. Two years ago, a former beauty queen’s body washed up on the shore of Wallops Island, Virginia. She was last seen on a boat with her fiancé, who has since been held in jail while awaiting trial. Kay Scarpetta is an expert witness for the case where another forensic pathologist had previously bungled the investigation. Following an arduous cross-examination by the prosecutor, Scarpetta leaves the court only to discover that the sister of the judge on her case has been found dead.
Just like her previous outing – “Autopsy” – the structure of the novel was the same. Everything takes place over a period of less than 48 hours. It is all slammed together in a wham-bam-thank-you-reader storytelling experience. Fox 2000 bought the rights to Kay Scarpetta. Working with producer Liz Friedman, Marvel’s Jessica Jones and fellow Marvel EP and Twilight Saga scribe Melissa Rosenberg to develop the film and find Scarpetta a home on the big screen. I’ve read most of the Scarpetta books. This one I am glad to say may be my last if Cornwell’s return to the character is as mindless as this one is. Here is a summary so you won’t have to waste your time. I do like Cornwell’s Scarpetta series but admit to losing interest a little when there was so much focus on Scarpetta’s niece Lucy. I just can’t warm to her for some reason. Give me more of Scarpetta, Marino and Benton any day.
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Hailed as the first bona fide forensic thriller, Postmortem paved the way for an explosion of entertainment featuring all things forensic. CSI? You'll read it here first. funding scholarships and literacy programs. Her advice to aspiring authors: “Start writing. And don’t take no for an answer.”
I’M STILL SEEING STARS . . . KAY SCARPETTA IS THE SAME GRUMPY, WONDERFUL, RIVETING PERSONALITY SHE’S ALWAYS BEEN AND SHE’S ONLY GETTING BETTER WITH TIME’JAMES PATTERSON SCARPETTA’S 26TH OUTING AND THE PLOTTING REMAINS EVERY BIT AS FRESH AS WHEN WE WERE INTRODUCED TO HER’ BELFAST TELEGRAPH
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There's clunkiness here and there where everything is spelled out in dialogue instead of conveying some in narrative or where readers are inside Scarpetta's head too much, but that's minor. Kay Scarpetta has been a forensics pathologist for many years, though she’s finally met her match. Having inherited a case that is now making headlines and drawing a large television audience, Scarpetta must separate truth from fiction as all eyes are on her. Both sides are equally divided and prepared to act violently if the correct verdict is not rendered.
The story starts out with Kay testifying in Old Town Alexandria regarding the alleged murder of a young woman by her husband. The judge is Kay's former roommate. The rulings the Judge makes during Kay's testimony would never happen, nor would the outrageous objections made by the prosecutor. The unrealistic story gets worse from here as people start getting killed, including the Judge's sister who is staying at the Judge's residence, with a microwave gun. There appears to be no connection to the killings, and there really isn't but for the author's unbelievable stretch at the end to make sure there is a connection.By 830PM, 28.5 hours since Kay exited the courtroom, everything is all wrapped up in a tidy bow and the killer is dead. As stated in my previous review of “Autopsy”, my problem is simply this. The characters never develop, grow, change, or evolve. They are way too predictable and obvious. I challenge anyone to name one book in the series in which other members of the family did not know more about one of Kay’s murder investigations than she did herself. There probably is one, but I cannot think of it. In addition, the plotlines also follow the same formula and structure, which includes weak, frustrating, and unfulfilled endings. After earning her degree in English from Davidson College in 1979, she began working at the Charlotte Observer.
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