The only way to review this book without spoiling anything (not that it isn’t spoiled in and of itself) is to say: been there, done that.

Having already driven a stake through the heart of her long-term characters in the previous novel in the Scarpetta series (Blow Fly) Cornwell came back and handed her readers a heaping helping of rehashed story ideas – the killer hiding in plain sight in someone else’s home being the biggie – a horrifically illogical digression involving Lucy that provided important insight to Scarpetta’s case that was altogether too pat and a truly broken and dysfunctional relationship between the MD/JD forensive pathology genius and an important man in her life.

For some reason, Ms. Cornwell seems bound and determined to kill this series, book by book. If you’ve been a longtime Scarpetta fan, skip Trace, so that Cornwell doesn’t take you down with her.

Not as bad as some of her recent books, this still isn’t as good as the first few. But I enjoyed Scarpetta’s return (hopefully to be permanent?) to Richmond. Now if only Lucy would stop hooking up with psychopathic (and unlikely) girlfriends, the series could regain some of its former glory.