I found this book while I was in Amsterdam a few weeks ago. It had just been released and I couldn't wait to get it in paperback so I got the brand new hardcover. I just couldn't wait to see if she will redeem herself in this book. After completely changing the style that she writes the Scarpetta series and being severely disappointed in her latest (Blow Fly) this is her chance to win me back. So far I'm not even halfway through but I'm not impressed. It's the same choppy story as the last one, changing view and always in 3rd person. I miss the earlier books where you really could get a feel for Scarpetta and the people around her. It's all so exaggerated now, just can't get into it. I'll give an update when I'm finished.
Update: Only halfway through the book now. Been trying to get through it for a few weeks. It is as lackluster as Blow Fly and I'm having trouble trudging my way through it. I'm hoping there is some sort of climax soon because the book is dull, scattered and boring so far. So disappointed..
Update 2: Nov 10, 2004 - Finished the book last week and feel like it was a complete waste of time. So sorry to see Cornwell take such a massive decline. I will continue to read her books in hopes that she will realize where she's gone wrong and go back to her old style of writing.

This is Cornwell's 13th Kay Scarpetta novel and quite frankly this one is better then the past 6 or so. No Temple Gault and company. No Wolf Man. Instead we have Edgar Allen Pogue (come on...that is pretty lame). Regardless of his name, EAP is the proverbial meek quiet employee who worked for Scarpetta till something went wrong and he is tipped over the edge of insanity bent on hurting Scarpetta.

Kay is currently living and working in Florida when she is called by the current Medical Examiner to come back to Richmond and help solve the death of a 14 year old girl. Lucy and Benton are in Colorado dealing with the after effects of an intruder attacking Lucy's latest flame and co-worker (yeah, that is smart).

Marino gets it on with the 14 year old girl's mother who has some sexual issues she deals with by taking it out on Marino. We learn about EAP's hatred for all things Scarpetta. Seems like there are an awful lot of people who have an axe to grind with Kay.

Kay is a nicer person in this book. One thing that drives me crazy though happens in this book once again. It is when Kay gets offended by others not calling her Dr. Scarpetta and instead calling her by her first name. Give me a break. How about a little humility KAY?!?!

Trace is the 13th book in the Kay Scarpetta series. Kay has been asked to return to Richmond to assist with the unsolved death of 14 yr old Gilly Paulson, after being fired from her job as Chief Medical Examiner. Virginia’s newly appointed Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Joel Marcus, continually disrespects Kay and she is becoming "the fall guy". The news that the body of Theodore Whitby, a construction worker accidentally killed in the demolition of the old CME building, is marked by the same trace evidence as Gilly Paulson. This book also brings back Lucy, Kay's nIece, Pete Marino, and Benton who was found alive in prior book. There are plenty of subplots as Lucy is trying to sort out who attempted to kill her friend Henri (short for Henrietta), who's now under psychiatric treatment by, Benton Wesley. Lurking in the background is Edgar Allan Pogue, a nutcase who has a thing for dead bodies and a grudge against Scarpetta. This series needs to be read in order in order to understand the subplots.

good read

Thirteenth Book in The Scarpetta Series

Wonderful thirteenth book in The Scarpetta Series. This book is about Scarpetta being called in as a consultant by the new chief medical examiner of Richmond, Dr. Joel Marcus who dislikes her because he is now working the same position that she had 5 years ago and people frequently point out to him that he is not measuring up to how she did the job. A 14 year old girl, Gilly Paulsson was found dead in bed by her mother after she stayed home sick with the flu. Scarpetta's former second in command Dr. Jack Fielding, who still works at the medical examiner's office performed Gilly Paulsson's autopsy and couldn't discover what her cause of death was and her father has been using his connections to pressure the ME's office so they called Scarpetta and invited her to help with the Paulsson case. After reexamining the girl's body Scarpetta determines that she died of mechanical asphyxia and trace found links it to the presumed accidental death of a heavy equipment operator at the site of the old ME's office, the attempted murder of Henri Walden, a friend of Lucy's at her house in Florida and 2 bombs left in mailboxes, one at Lucy's and one a waitresses.

This is the book, I would say, where the characters complete their transformation from interesting people with issues you can relate to, to characters who are doing things that are so screwed up you don't even want to watch anymore. And now I remember why I stopped reading this series.

Continua la saga di Kay Scarpetta con un'avvincente puntata in cui entrano tutti i personaggi della famiglia: Pete Marino dimagrito, Lucy che si è presa una sbandata come al solito per la persona sbagliata, Kay che torna come consulente nel SUO laboratorio, Benton che aiuta l'amica di Lucy a ritrovare se stessa.
Gli ingredienti sono tenuti insieme dalla ricerca di un folle che sta cercando di far fuori Lucy e lascia dozzine di tracce dietro di sé. La lettura, come di consueto è avvincente e piacevole, ma Cornwell accentua sempre di più il suo disamore per questa saga: alcuni episodi restano incompiuti (l'operaio è morto per disgrazia o per omicidio?), la vicina di casa ha visto qualcosa oppure no? l'amica di Lucy chi cavolo è? Benton e Kay si amano ancora? Che bisogno c'è di tutta quella esasperata segretezza di Benton?
Il finale non tradisce le aspettative di chi è abituato a leggere Cornwell: come al solito tirato via. Una paginetta in cui si dà per scontato tutto e non si spiega quasi niente.
Piacevole ma ad ogni nuovo libro rimpiango Postmortem e Cause di morte.

This book cost only a dollar at a recent library book sale. I do like this author and feel very familiar with Kay, Marino, Benton and Lucy. Kay is called in to her former coroner work place in Virginia. Her replacement is rude and doesn’t really want her there. They still try to determine why a young girl really died. In the meantime Lucy’s girlfriend is attacked. A crazy man is on the loose. Danger lurks everywhere it seems, which makes for an intriguing story.

Kay Scarpetta #13: The now freelance team of The Last Precinct, sees the series continue to be in a better position. This volume sees the team investigating a serial killer who's primary target is one of the team! 5 out of 12.

Patricia Cornwell is the reining author on stringing works together to make readers visualize characters personalities.

While investigating the murder of a young girl, Scarpetta’s partner Marino believes he may have raped a suspect while drunk and somehow this ties in with the murder of the girl. A worthwhile read.

This is an older Patricia Cornwell (Kay Scarpetta) novel that I picked up at the local library's book sale. However, it is one that I apparently missed!
As usual, it is a good, fast paced mystery that has several overlapping plots. For one, Kay is called by the new Medical Examiner in Richmond (where she was previous CME) to come and assist with a curious case. A child was found dead in bed, and although she had been suffering from the flu, it seemed unlikely that it was the illness that killed her. On careful examination, and a second post-mortem-this time by Dr. Scarpetta, it becomes clear that the child was murdered.

Then, there is the bereaved mother. Sad, yes, but also strangely distant. It seems that she and her husband had an unusual sex life that involved others.

To complicate the issue, there are questions about whether the child's window had been left open, and who-if anyone-lived in the property behind the house.

Kay and Marino investigate some trace evidence found on the victim-which strangely, has also been found on the victim of an accident with a bulldozer.

A side issue involves Lucy and a houseguest/lover/employee, who was attacked and severely injured while staying at Lucy's massive south Florida estate. Was the attacker really after Lucy?

Meanwhile a portrait is drawn of a psychopathic killer, who was once known to Kay when she worked in Richmond. Was he involved? In the attack, in the murder? And who else may be culpable here?

I won't give away the plot in case you haven't read it.

Highly recommended for Cornwell readers and mystery readers in general. Good for vacations!

I read several of these when the series began, but hadn't read any for a while until I ran across this one. I had remembered these as more of a mystery/procedural than a psychological thriller. I don't know whether the series changed or my recollection is off, but this is definitely a psychological thriller. I don't think I've ever read a book with more psychopaths or sociopaths, or whatever in it. Way more than it needed, I felt.

The end seemed much to rushed. One character arrests the murderer in a very brief scene, and that's the end of that. Nothing is resolved with the handful of other psychotic people she has spent so much time telling us about. That bugged me. It seemed like the ending was more about moving the relationships of her continuing characters forward to the next book than about resolving anything involving the characters we will probably only see in this book, beyond that arrest.

It was an enjoyable read up until that unsatisfyig conclusion. The writing is deft, and I didn't want to put the book down. But I felt kind of cheated that so many characters were simply dropped at the end.

3.5 stars