Livid: The new Kay Scarpetta thriller from the No.1 bestseller

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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. The reason that I share this outline is because it has become a repeated pattern for each of the Kay Scarpetta novels. It’s predictable and over-used by Cornwell. It also contributes to some major problems. 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. It just seemed a little clinical & little familiar - the machinations of a boss who dislikes her, earlier cases now under revision - you would think Scarpetta had earned a little trust & respect by now. I'll keep reading these as long as they keep being released, but I feel they've lost the heart & soul of what they were originally. I've re-read the first five or six books many times, but I'm not sure I will re-read the later ones as often. 3.5 stars (rounded up). has indomitable medical examiner Kay Scarpetta returning to her office in Richmond five years after being Continue reading »

In this thrilling new installment of Patricia Cornwell’s #1 bestselling series, chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta finds herself a reluctant star witness in a sensational televised murder trial causing chaos in Old Town Alexandria with the threat of violent protests.

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This book was so bad I started questioning my childhood. When I was in Jr. High and high school my mom and I would both read Kay Scarpetta books. We liked them. The medical examiner angle is an interesting one for crime fiction. But this book was so bad, I wonder if all those books my mom and I read were similarly bad. It has been 32 years since the first Kay Scarpetta novel was published in 1990. I was a bit late to the game, but in the mid 90's my sister-in-law recommended the series to me. That was also when I was having my babies and reading about Kay Scarpetta's investigations was a wonderful escape. My youngest will be turning 25 this year and I recall having one of the early books with me at the hospital when I was in labor. This one seemed to take a bit long to get in gear, but once it did there were glimpses of the old days. At the same time there is a modern weapon threat that is realistic enough to scare the pants off of me. I have a feeling I know where the next one will go and it could be a bit of a walk down memory lane revisiting and old series of murders called the Parkway killings. How better to unwind from prodding the dead all day than to feed living, breathing friends and relatives? Bestselling mystery author Patricia Cornwell's Food to Die For: Secrets from Kay Continue reading » 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.

Cornwell fans who relish her Kay Scarpetta stories for the postmortem findings will welcome this tale of twisted minds and the gory havoc they cause. Acronym fans will also be pleased. This tale Continue reading » 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. 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.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. Cornwell, a former reporter who has worked in a medical examiner's office, sets her first mystery in Richmond, Va. Chief medical officer for the commonwealth of Virginia, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, the Continue reading » Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks. Home >

There were some interesting moments in this book, but the return of Kay Scarpetta continues to be a disappointment for me. Cornwell is not creating something new and refreshing, but rather continues to rely on her plotting methodology of solving a mystery over a condensed two-to-three-day timeframe, an approach that she established and perfected, then used repetitively over and over again until it just got old. Would the readers be happy with the same old or want something new? To be fair, I can only answer that question for myself. The first few chapters were hard going due to the obnoxious prosecutor. You know that they have to try their utmost but he took the phrase "adversarial legal system" extremely literally. The overarching plot was good & I particularly liked how the different crime scenes were eventually tied together. All the main characters of the core group were involved: Scarpetta, Benton, Marino, & Lucy, & there were a few new ones too. 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. Noting happens. Scarpetta has almost no impact on the plot. The acronym PPE mus come up 50 times. We are to believe someone that invents a super weapon would use it on a couple of nobodies.I find I enjoy these books more where there is a bad guy/ serial killer on the loose … I find my eyes glaze over a little when we begin to talk chemical warfare, politics, and terrorism. It’s not that I don’t think they are important in real life - I just don’t enjoy the subject matter as much in my books. It’s incredibly dry and tedious IMO. I have to say, on the same hand I always appreciate Cornwell’s attention to detail and her writing is consistent as ever. Scarpetta shows no signs of slowing down and she and Benton still make quite the power couple. Cornwell's latest-a stand-alone thriller that was originally serialized in the New York Times Magazine-is likely to disappoint even diehard fans of her bestselling Kay Scarpetta novels (The Body Continue reading » But the relief doesn’t last long. She and investigator Pete Marino are soon notified that presiding judge (and Scarpetta’s friend/former roommate) Annie Chilton’s sister has been found dead at the family’s home. Further, evidence at the crime scene—blown electricity, dead wildlife, singed greenery, etc.—indicates the use of a high-tech “microwave gun.” That the victim was employed by the CIA and allegedly having an extramarital affair with Flagler only complicates matters, which are steeped in personal and professional quagmire. When a second body is discovered at a separate location, Scarpetta and expert Co. (including husband, Benton, and niece, Lucy) know that the threat of further violence is imminent. Still, internal strife and jurisdictional turf wars (think CIA, FBI, Secret Service) threaten to delay resolution, even as the terrorist(s) prepare to strike again. 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.

The fourth mystery to feature Virginia's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kay Scarpetta (after All That Remains ) is the most intricately plotted and fully characterized novel yet in Cornwell's admirable Continue reading » Way too much time spent on the scientific research, which overwhelms and almost drowns out the story at time. Dr. Kay Scarpetta, the spunky and thoughtful chief medical examiner introduced in Cornwell's first novel, Postmortem , makes her second commanding appearance here. Beryl Madison, a writer of Continue reading » Post-mortem scenes that [will] make fans of this long-running series salivate . . . Something to look forward to - KIRKUS

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They drive to Norfolk (to confirm her boss whom she doesn't like is up to no good) from Alexandria and while driving some of the "terrorists" are arrested.