Buldozere şi excavatoare galbene hăcuiesc pământul şi piatra pe una din străzile vechi ale oraşului, stradă ce a văzut mai multă moarte decât în majoritatea războaielor moderne, iar Kay Scarpetta încetineşte jeepul închiriat aproape oprind în loc. Tulburată de distrugerea ce îi apare în faţă, rămâne cu privirea la maşinile de culoarea muştarului care muşcă sălbatic din trecutul ei.
t— Ar fi trebuit să mă anunţe cineva, zise ea.
tÎn această dimineaţă cenuşie de decembrie, intenţia ei fusese relativ nevinovată. Nu vroia decât să cedeze unei mici crize de nostalgie şi să treacă pe lângă vechea ei clădire, fără să aibă nici cea mai vagă idee că aceasta era pe cale să fie dărâmată. Ar fi trebuit să o anunţe cineva. Aşa ar fi fost politicos şi amabil. Să menţioneze acest lucru sau cel puţin să zică: „O, apropo, clădirea aia în care ai lucrat odată când erai tânără şi plină de speranţă, cu capul plin de vise, când credeai în iubire, ei bine, clădirea aceea veche de care încă îţi mai e dor şi la care ţii din toată inima va fi dărâmată”.
tUnul din buldozere zvâcneşte, ridică lama pentru atac, iar violenţa mecanică, zgomotoasă, pare un avertisment, o alertă periculoasă. Ar fi trebuit să ascult, îşi zise ea privind la asfaltul crăpat şi sfărâmat. Lipsea jumătate din faţada vechii ei clădiri. Când a fost rugată să revină în Richmond, ar fi trebuit să îşi asculte instinctele.
t— Am un caz la care sper că mă poţi ajuta, i-a explicat dr. Joel Marcus, actualul medic primar legist al Virginiei, cel care îi luase locul. Chiar ieri după-amiază a sunat-o, iar ea a ales să nu-şi asculte instinctele.
t— Desigur, dr. Marcus, i-a zis ea la telefon, plimbându-se prin bucătăria casei din sudul Floridei. Cu ce vă pot fi de folos?
t— O fată de paisprezece ani a fost găsită moartă în pat. Asta se întâmpla cam acum două săptămâni, pe la prânz. Fata fusese bolnavă de gripă.
tScarpetta ar fi trebuit să îl întrebe pe dr. Marcus motivul pentru care o sunase pe ea. De ce ea? Dar nu dădea atenţie instinctelor.
t— Era acasă, lipsea de la şcoală? zise ea.
t— Da.
t— Singură? '7dn timp ce vorbea amesteca o combinaţie de burbon, miere şi ulei de măsline, ţinând receptorul la ureche cu umărul.
t— Da.
t— Cine a descoperit-o şi care a fost cauza decesului? Turnă marinata deasupra unei fripturi slabe de vacă, într-o pungă de plastic pentru alimente.
t— Mama ei a găsit-o. Nu există o cauză evidentă a decesului, zise el. Nimic suspect, numai că probele, sau mai degrabă lipsa lor, indică faptul că ea nu ar trebui să fie moartă.

I actually enjoyed this piece of the series. It was a good story line, kind of a classic who-done-it, and so I found it slightly refreshing. However, I did have a couple question marks over my head about certain parts of the story, but I think that’s just because they kind of had a weak conclusion. And I hope Lucy figures her stuff out and can kind of get it together. I understand she has emotions, but she and Benton keeping things from Scarpetta just makes me mad. Anyway, ready to jump into the next one of this series!

I just don't know. This is the second Scarpetta book I have read (admittedly out of order), and there's something I'm just not getting.

This one begins promisingly enough, with Kay and detective Pete Marino heading back to Virginia to help solve the mysterious death of a 14 year old girl. We meet some creepy people- the new chief medical examiner, for one, and our real bad guy, Edgar Allen Pogue.

"Trace" centers around trace evidence found at three seemingly unrelated crime scenes. One of these, of course, involves Kay's niece Lucy. Lucy has a wicked intellect and is about as self-absorbed and destructive as a PMSing teenager.

The story surrounding the crimes is actually pretty good- but there is too much distraction for this to be a really good book. The CME is thrown in as kind of a red herring- he has some skeletons in his closet, but we never reslove anything with him. You can feel Kay and Benton (her, what? Boyfriend? Husband? I'm not sure what he is at this point) struggling to bury their hurtful past, but no one talks about it and there is no confrontation. Some opportunities for real drama are just skated over.

I've heard the earlier Scarpetta novels are better, but I think I'm done.

A dive back into the forensic science of Dr Kay Scarpetta - and the ongoing cast of characters around her story.

I forgot how cranky and entitled Dr Scarpetta is, and how crotchety she is towards so many people - I mean, I have read the series up to hear, but still, she is so uptight! Can't really understand why Cornwell writes her in such sharp sting.

But then, so too are the actually unlikable cast that surrounds Dr Kay...so many cranky people! Marino. Benton. Ugh, the drama of Lucy. It really is an unendearing lot!

This volume starts off hard to get into, with little splices of the three threads, and all the spin off threads. Hard to keep it together when it so disjointed.

But of course then it picks up, the threads give you enough to start seeing the bigger picture, as they always do, and you're hooked. I guess it's why Cornwell sells so well, and is still going with this character series.

Lasāms krimiķis, bet šeit vairāk uzmanības izmeklētāju un laboratoriju darbam, intriga par vainīgo diezgan minimāla. Manuprāt, visām Skārpetas grāmatām ir tāda viegli depresīvi ikdienišķi nomācoša pieskaņa.. Skumju brīžos jāizvēlas kāds jestrāks gabals.

I love the Scarpetta character, which is based on a real medical examiner. Generally, Cornwell produces the Scarpetta books with taut and compelling writing. But in this novel, the characters have become caricatures of themselves. Marino is more unpleasant than usual. As a former detective, he is a useful foil and clearly in love with the lovely Kay Scarpetta, but became unacceptably irascible and unlikable in this book.

I know authors can't hit a home run with every book, especially in a long-running series with a character most readers probably think they actually know. But this book wasn't even a dribbling in-field single.

If this had been the first book I read by Cornwell, it would also be the last.

First read: March 2006
Re-Read: July-August 2017

The plot: Cornwell weaves two separate plots together in Trace. The first is from the perspective of Kay Scarpetta as she is called back to her old office in Virginia to help out on a case that the current chief medical examiner doesn't want to deal with. A fourteen year old girl named Gilly Paulsson is found dead in her bed with no obvious signs for the cause of death.

The second plot is from the perspective of Kay's niece Lucy, who has called Benton to help with an attack that occurred at her home, where her work colleague/lover Henri was assaulted by an intruder.

I really enjoyed re-reading Trace. The third person/present tense style of writing was a little disconcerting at first, but I quickly got used to it and began to enjoy the story. I liked the way the plotlines tied together and I still really enjoy reading about the lives of Kay Scarpetta, Benton, Lucy and Marino and everything they go through.

Rating: 4/5 stars

This book wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be. The Last Precinct was a better read. There wasn't much action in this one, the characters weren't fleshed out very well at all, and the capture of the bad guy was very, very anti-climactic. I didn't even care much for Scarpetta in this book; her niece Lucy seemed to be a self-absorbed rich b***h; I don't know why she put certain characters in with others (she has Benton in Aspen "babysitting" Lucy's employee, who was attacked in Lucy's home). There is no resolution of a feud between Scarpetta and Virginia's new chief medical examiner, and really no hint that this will be re-visited in a future book (maybe she resolves it in another novel, I haven't heard). This book was quite a let down all the way around.

nose si este libro tiene secuelas o es solo uno pero creo que por lo menos debería tener el final EN EL LIBRO. tipo no entendí nadaaaa. nisiquiera es como que “final abierto” jajsjsjaja NO TIEME FINAL. pero fuera de eso, es un librasoooo amo como escribe la autora es súper ligero pero te enseña algunas cosas y es bien interesante. escribe de una manera que hace que no te despegues del libro por horaaaaas y amo eso. definitivamente leería mas libros de la autora y mucho más si tienen que ver con la protagonista que améeeee porque es como una mujer superpoderosa jajajaja que sabe y hace de todo la amo.


SPOILER DEL LIBRO

no entiendo. nose si el libro tiene final??? tipo supuestamente edgar mató a la niña porque quería vengar a la anciana??? o porque vió las cochinadas que hacían los papás de la niña? pero que tenía que ver la niña. QUÉ PASÓ CON LA MAMÁ??? ósea que mas tenía para contar y porque se inventó al perro?? ptm me estresa que no expliquen eso, necesito que lo digan de manera explícita y concreta!!! y qué pasó con el papá después de la visita que le hizo lucy en el consultorio. PORQUE MIERDA TODOS TENÍAN GRIPE??? creí que edgar tenía algo que ver con eso pero nunca dijeron nadaaaaa. otra cosa, porque mato a la vieja??? si la vieja le daba todo y DONDE ESTÁ SU MAMÁ, tipo yo esperaba a que entraran a su casa y encuentres algo relacionado a su mamá porque el hablaba de ella como si estuviera viva y luego de la nada estaba muerta y sus cenizas estaban en una caja. al final que fue con lucy??? enfrentó a edgar o nada?. que le hizo marino a edgar y SU CONFESIÓNNNN NECESITO LA CONFESIÓN DE EDGAR ALLAN. scarpetta se queda con benton??? parecía que ya lo iba a volver con el. Lucy y henri???? como terminó todo eso!!!!!.

Crime mystery

It's been a while since I've read a novel in this series. I recall enjoying some of the books but stopped because the stories had turned dark in terms of both the themes and characters. Scarpetta was such a kickass medical examiner at the outset but turned into something less interesting. The wailing against the establishment, i.e., the department heads and government officials, turned more plaintive. The character became somewhat robotic, scientifically precise but lacking the emotional impetus that carried those earlier novels. Anyway, it was nice to revisit and bring back some good reading memories, but I doubt if I will try another book (unless I see a pretty strong review on GR!)

I had the audiobook which was about 6 hours long for a book that was over 400 pages long so I would guess this is an abridged version. Am wondering what parts of the original text were left out?

The last in Scarpetta re-reads. I love this world and these characters.

I like most of Patricia Cornwell novels, because of her depth of knowledge of forensics. However, I would like for her to develop her characters more. I also find her characters rather unbelievable at times.