Throw back to 2006/2007? I am reading all Scarpetta series in order in 2023/2024. The throw back in time to be beginning of the series (1988/1989) was amazing, we are now in 2006/2007 and the knowledge of forensics in the pop culture is more evident. Yet there are some things (like 3D viewing of a crime case) that even now seem like a novelty.
What I don’t understannd how in every book in the series (of recent) there is someone who is out to get Scarpetta or her family, and how oblivious she is to spot the danger. Very little detecting, a lot of psychology, less forensics, more dark human behaviours. In fact - this book is very dark indeed, heavy with difficult relationships, difficult conversations, difficult situations. As if people lost the skill to talk to each other openly.
What I respect, a lot, is the very sensitive way Patricia Cornwell writes about LGBT issues - I am not sure if everybody would notice it, but it has been evident for me from the beginning of the series that she must have done a lot of good including the gentle way she writes about them in her best selling books. I have just found out that she came out in 2007 or so - this made is so much more understandable- simply perfect.
I am giving this book 3*. Too much repetition by now. In the previous review I wrote I woukd be surprised if there was noone to try to get Scarpetta in the next book. Well.. I was not surprised…

I fear even an autopsy would struggle to uncover anything new here.

I looked forward to this book and wanted to completely enjoy it. Sadly, I was disappointed with what I found. Patricia Cornwell has always been able to tell a good story. One filled with suspense and mystery to go along with the forensic aspect of solving the crimes. But she also managed to flesh out the four main characters with each successive novel until you came to care about those characters.

With this book, Ms. Cornwell has written a mystery that is convoluted to say the least and not at all compelling. But the greater lament is that she's made the characters of Kay, Lucy, Benton and Marino unlikable. They've become a cynical group of angry, depressing characters who no longer trust one another and seem to not even like each other. Which makes it hard for the reader to like them any longer as well.

In the end the only thing worth caring about with this book was the whereabouts of one of those four main characters at the conclusion of the book.

Read: November 2007
Rating: 4/5 stars

Re-read 1: June 2018
Rating: DNF

Re-read 2: August-September 2019
Rating: 3/5 stars

Wow it was a real struggle to get through this book! Book of the Dead actually starts off really well; detailing the horrific murder of a young American tennis player that takes place in Rome, Italy. However from there the book becomes tedious with lots of long, unnecessary conversations that take pages to get to the point. I remember reading it quite quickly the first time around but it was during one of those pointless detail-filled conversations that I DNF'd it the second time.

There is a good story in here, if you have the patience to find it. I still like Kay's character and her relationship with Benton, Marino and Lucy, and it is those strong characters, along with inventive, interesting murder mysteries, that made me give the book another chance - and this time I was able to finish it.

In terms of rating this book, to me it is not quite the weakest book in the series (The Last Precinct was worse in my opinion) but it certainly doesn't represent how good Cornwell can be when she's writing at her best.

So, technically I didn't finish it. But I read 200 pages of it, so I feel somewhat qualified to say that this book fails in many ways.

I love old-school Patricia Cornwell. I have read The Body Farm numerous times. I love From Potter's Field, All that Remains, etc. She's what got me hooked on Forensic Files, American Justice, and later CSI:. She writes wonderfully, her stories were vivid and terrifying - or at least they used to be.

Her last few books, beginning with the book Blow Fly have been dreadful. With her switch from first-person narrative to third-person omniscient narrative, Cornwell totally lost my interest in the books. We no longer have that integral connection to the main character. The murders are still interesting, but the characters have become boring and repetitive. In Book of the Dead, we see Cornwell's characters reciting the same old lines and engaging in the same old behaviors from books from years past - few of the characters seem to have grown in any positive or redemptive way at all. My interest is gone - I'll read Kathy Reichs instead.

Oh, dear, Scarpetta makes me SOOOO angry. I didn't like this one at all.

The mystery wasn't bad, though not very well organized, but the interpersonal garbage just about made me vomit. How can such an amazing beautiful woman (inside and out, to hear the characters tell it) be such a moron and attract so much negativity...and be so idiotic.

No.More. I said that before about this series, skipped a few books, and picked this up hoping for improvement. Really, I can't waste anymore time on this sort of silliness.

Ugh. I can't believe I wasted on time on this. It dragged on horribly and the characters have become unbearable. Marino, once a street-wise cop, is now a buffoon. Scarpetta is cold and unlikeable, as is Lucy. Ick. Ick. Ick. This series has totally jumped the shark.

OK for putting you to sleep or to read when you don't really want to think. Ms Cornwell's books becme more and more like sci fi as she continues to add to her list. I really loved her earlier books, but her plots become more and more far out. It did put me to sleep though- that's why it took me so long to read it.

The last Cornwell I read was Blowfly, which was a hot mess, so I found this to be an upswing from there. Granted the author is doing weird and unpleasant things with her Scooby gang, leaving the reader with less to like about them, but the story had some twists and turns. (Although a hearty suspension of disbelief is required for some.) Overall, it kept my brain occupied while I did chores and yard work, which is all I required.

This novel was a joy to read. The dialogue is superb and the technical explanations of the crime lab are surprising entertaining.

What’s even more surprising is the fact that this is only the 15th novel in a series that expands over 21 books, but it actually reads like a stand alone tale.

The characters of the novel are very distinguished and diverse and they all add something special to the story. For example, Kay Scarpetta, our main protagonist and her nephew, couldn’t be more different from one another, but yet, they managed to solve the crime and also catch the killer they’re after.

This is one of those stories where the reader can’t help but ask oneself not who had done it, but rather why. In fact, once the story resolves itself, the reader understands really who had done the crime. It is brilliantly done.

However, what the novel doesn’t do is go deep into what motivates a person to do such horrible acts of violence. Instead, the story goes on and on for entire pages on the personal aspects of the characters, which, instead of moving the story further, it just stops it, making the reader lose interest in the actual story-line.

For a killer who, at the end. was motivated by war, and mistreatment of his parents, there is very little said of the actually things that would have motivated the killer to become so violent.

Needless to say that this novel should have been at least half its size. However, it is still an amazing read and I recommend it.

To read full review on Medium, click on the link below:

https://medium.com/@michel.narvaez.08...

Brutal but entertaining at the same time

I AM DONE WITH THESE!

I mistakenly bought a four book set and have been picking my way year by year up to the number in the series.

The plot is ludicrous, but the plot is always crazy. Hannibal Lecter-meets a soap opera with a fine skim of a comic book.

For a writer, what Cornwell does is show you the incredible amount of bull shit people will read and believe - at least enough to make you millions of dollars. It's truly astounding.