Rachel C. (RachelACrawford) reviewed on 8/29/2010 + 22 more book reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Complex and absorbing..., August 29, 2010

This review is from: The Scarpetta Factor (Hardcover)
This novel, the seventeenth in the series featuring Dr. Kay Scarpetta, is full of the forensic details, cutting edge FBI analysis protocols, and technological advances that Patricia Cornwell is known for writing. The well known and much-loved characters are all together again as they work a complex case that perplexes and engages them in various facets of the investigation. Lucy and New York prosecutor, Jaime Berger, team up as lovers and co-investigators looking for a missing woman, Kay autopsies a jogger who has been dead much longer than witnesses claim she was, Benton faces an old nemesis who ran him out of the FBI years ago, and Marino is investigating different facets of the parallel cases as they coalesce into a surprising climax that brings the team full circle.

The narrative was, at times, a little slow moving and occasionally got bogged down with endless description and the detail that is typical of a Scarpetta novel dealing with the scientific data that helps solve the case. The novel isn't exactly riveting but it was interesting. The characters are almost like family after having read about them for so long -- we know their good points and their demons and accept them for who and what they are, still loving them despite their idiosyncrasies and foibles.

I'll keep reading Patricia Cornwell because she really is the queen of the 'medical examiner novel' authors, and Kay Scarpetta is the model that all the other female pathologist characters has been built on by other writers. I enjoy novels of this nature and look forward to the next installment.

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