Book Review Newer-35th

Review—Scarpetta

Patricia Cornwell wrote the novel, Scarpetta. Putnam published the book in December 2008; there are 512 pages.

            From a comfortable home and practice in South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta is also often a consultant for CNN and the NYPD. A recent murder in New York City leads a suspect into her husband’s psychiatric facility. Though somewhat delusional, the man requests an examination from Kay and then enlists her help. Her fame precedes her to the city that never sleeps and today’s technology blasts issues and situations from her past across cyberspace, adding publicity and political struggles into the difficulty of solving crimes.

            Over the last bit of time, Kay’s relationships have changed through loss and betrayal, as well as desperation and love. Now married, both her and Benton work out of both of these cities and maintain a new quality to their togetherness, some  issues may be better and some not so much. Her niece Lucy also works in NYC and her special skills will be invaluable to solving this murder. After decades of being Kay’s primary investigator, Marino, is now a special investigator for the New York district attorney. Their past is rocky and troubled and this case throws them back together again. Marino is also working side-by-side with a new officer who proves to be an issue no one expects.

            Patricia Cornwell has written many novels revolving around Kay and her family and friends, in addition to those she works with and the crimes they solve. This book brings the family back together and opens communication that paves a way for more novels in the future. Kay is as strong and honest as ever in this novel, though the personal issues sometimes over-shadow the investigation. The murder that leads Kay and Benton to NYC proves to have strange twists and turns that lead to other deaths and questionable websites and data that links Kay to the victims. Is there truth or fiction to the technology available today? The novel ends in a very surprising manner and maintains a fairly fast pace for reading another Scarpetta book.