I was very excited when Patricia Cornwell released a new Kay Scarpetta mystery. I haven’t particularly enjoyed her recent books and was hoping this was a return to the core of her best series. Unfortunately it’s not that great. Perhaps the Scarpetta line is just played out. But, I’m also finding that over the last several books Cornwell has moved toward telling chunks of the story from the perspective of the perpetrator. These forays in to the minds of madmen are disturbing and unpleasant.

I think it reveals something important about how sheltered and selective we are about what we want to know and think about. I’m part of this huge group of people right now who thoroughly enjoy CSI and other forensic television shows and books. But I’m sure I’m not alone in not wanting to think about the truly disgusting acts and motivations that go into these crimes. It’s entirely possible this means that I shouldn’t be taking part in the consumption of these materials. But I talked to Piper about this and thought about it more and I think that it might be okay to be fascinated by the forensics. Piper also pointed out that there is something good about the scientists being portrayed as heroes. Their motivations are always described as being true – seeking to put away the evil people . I suppose it’s better that I don’t enjoy the horrific aspects of these crimes. If I did, we’d have a whole other concern to deal with.

Anyway, this book isn’t terrible. But it’s not great. It certainly isn’t the redemption of the Scarpetta series that most of us were hoping for. At this point I think I am hoping that Cornwell discoverers a new direction and character that we can all enjoy as much as we did Scarpetta in her hay day.

1.2006
2/5 Stars
I’m not sure why I read this, other than it was around the house. With the last book, I said I wouldn’t read any more of Cornwell’s Scarpetta mysteries and yet I did. It sucked. Over Christmas, I re-read Postmortem, the first book and remembered just how great they were. Major disappointment.

This Scarpetta mystery is quite a rollicking one, and seems to be a return to form until we reach the ending. From there it seems as if Cornwell grew tired of writing the book and wanted to end it as quickly as possible and get it out of her hair. So many events happen in such a short period of time it almost seems like a coda to a television movie where we are told what happens to everybody through text on screen. Maybe the next book continues the story… we’ll hav to wait and see. Still worth reading, though.