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Yikes. Ok,so for starters, this book gets 3*** from me because in spite of all the things I hated, this case was more interesting and Cornwell got back to the technical details of the plot while Scarpetta and Lucy investigate an arson scene. It was an improvement over the last book overall.
I enjoyed learning about how smoke forces itself through mortar and how the fire moved across the scene. This does end up getting detailed to the point where it might lose readers but it was a plus for me. The dead horses, the horse who survived, the homeowner's history with the dead girl, and his professional status all provide lots of angles for the team to work through because nothing is straightforward here.
While working the arson case, Lucy and Scarpetta are blindsided by Carrie's escape. As much as I want to be done with this series, I really do want to know what happened initially with Carrie (and way later on in the series). I guess these books are the equivalent of potato chips--even if you don't want more, you still want more.
Now for what I didn't like:
*Scarpetta the oblivious who can’t sleep with someone she doesn’t work delivers a very confrontational lecture to Lucy about not sleeping with coworkers. It's as if Lucy has been watching Scarpetta get involved with coworkers her whole life. It's completely hypocritical, and thankfully Lucy pushes back (I'm kind of confused though...I know Cornwell eventually came out herself and even at this stage in her writing she's very pro-LGBT, however, it seems that Scarpetta either can't see the irony when she's criticizing Lucy or that her objection is that Lucy is sleeping with women while Scarpetta is sleeping married men).
*Scarpetta's negativity about Marino over everything he does. His diet, the smoking, the way he dresses, his political incorrectness, etc, etc. If I had a coworker I disliked this much, I would not be developing a co-dependent work relationship. One of us would be getting a new job. I think part of why this annoyed me so much is that I've read a few books 10+ books further on in the series and this annoying dynamic with Marino continues.
*the slimy/creepy way Scarpetta notices Lucy when she’s undressed and thinks about her sexuality. EWW! Scarpetta supposedly sees Lucy as a daughter. This is gross. I think this could have been handled better and it's a good example of the pitfalls that a writer can fall into when using 1st person POV (Lucy's sexuality is important to this subplot, but digesting it through Scarpetta's inner-monologue isn't comfortable at all).
*Wesley and Scarpetta have very childish melodramatic fights. Ok, I'm nitpicking, but she's really petty.
*The Marino-Scarpetta interaction about the carjackers and the boots… What were you trying to say here, Ms Cornwell? Marino and Scarpetta are driving and Scarpetta lets slip that she was almost carjacked in a dangerous area and she escaped by flooring it to get away. Ok, very reasonable. Marino asks if she would have run the would-be carjackers over, to which Scarpetta says, "you can bet your boots." Then Marino says, "They're not worth much." Yea, yea, Marino is referring to his boots but it’s also ambiguous enough to imply that the lives of the carjackers aren’t worth much. This doesn’t sit well with me because Scarpetta has been oozing attitude about the poor, inner city residents of Richmond since book one (see previous reviews).
*Scarpetta becomes unnecessarily hostile/confrontational in several interactions. For example, when talking to Carrie's legal aide attorney, Scarpetta asks a question and the attorney "wouldn't say." Scarpetta reacts strangely. I think this is a poor example of using 1st person pov. Scarpetta assumes that the woman not answering means that she is impeding her investigation and possibly aiding an escaped serial killer, when not answering could mean absolutely anything from not knowing to thinking maybe she needs an attorney herself. Rather than assuming the worst of the woman she's interviewing, I would have like to see Scarpetta either having more of an inner monologue trying to interpret the woman's statements OR asking the woman more questions and leading her to reveal her motivations through a more skillful interrogation. The way this is written, Scarpetta's approach is extremely blunt which is disappointing because Cornwell is a much better writer than this sample might lead you to think.
*Benton Wesley's death. Killing characters, ok, but so many people who work with Scarpetta have died at this point that I'm getting tired of it, especially after the way the last book ended with Scarpetta leaning on Wesley after learning Mark was seeing someone else when he died--which don't forget, was strange because suddenly Scarpetta isn't as upset over Mark's death when Wesley tells her about Mark being at the hotel with a woman. Feel free to disagree, but while I understand having complex feelings toward an unfaithful ex, Scarpetta takes it a bit too far, as if Scarpetta bases Mark's value as a person on his value to her in her life. Scarpetta is angst-y enough with her love life without killing ANOTHER co-worker/love interest.
I enjoyed learning about how smoke forces itself through mortar and how the fire moved across the scene. This does end up getting detailed to the point where it might lose readers but it was a plus for me. The dead horses, the horse who survived, the homeowner's history with the dead girl, and his professional status all provide lots of angles for the team to work through because nothing is straightforward here.
While working the arson case, Lucy and Scarpetta are blindsided by Carrie's escape. As much as I want to be done with this series, I really do want to know what happened initially with Carrie (and way later on in the series). I guess these books are the equivalent of potato chips--even if you don't want more, you still want more.
Now for what I didn't like:
*Scarpetta the oblivious who can’t sleep with someone she doesn’t work delivers a very confrontational lecture to Lucy about not sleeping with coworkers. It's as if Lucy has been watching Scarpetta get involved with coworkers her whole life. It's completely hypocritical, and thankfully Lucy pushes back (I'm kind of confused though...I know Cornwell eventually came out herself and even at this stage in her writing she's very pro-LGBT, however, it seems that Scarpetta either can't see the irony when she's criticizing Lucy or that her objection is that Lucy is sleeping with women while Scarpetta is sleeping married men).
*Scarpetta's negativity about Marino over everything he does. His diet, the smoking, the way he dresses, his political incorrectness, etc, etc. If I had a coworker I disliked this much, I would not be developing a co-dependent work relationship. One of us would be getting a new job. I think part of why this annoyed me so much is that I've read a few books 10+ books further on in the series and this annoying dynamic with Marino continues.
*the slimy/creepy way Scarpetta notices Lucy when she’s undressed and thinks about her sexuality. EWW! Scarpetta supposedly sees Lucy as a daughter. This is gross. I think this could have been handled better and it's a good example of the pitfalls that a writer can fall into when using 1st person POV (Lucy's sexuality is important to this subplot, but digesting it through Scarpetta's inner-monologue isn't comfortable at all).
*Wesley and Scarpetta have very childish melodramatic fights. Ok, I'm nitpicking, but she's really petty.
*The Marino-Scarpetta interaction about the carjackers and the boots… What were you trying to say here, Ms Cornwell? Marino and Scarpetta are driving and Scarpetta lets slip that she was almost carjacked in a dangerous area and she escaped by flooring it to get away. Ok, very reasonable. Marino asks if she would have run the would-be carjackers over, to which Scarpetta says, "you can bet your boots." Then Marino says, "They're not worth much." Yea, yea, Marino is referring to his boots but it’s also ambiguous enough to imply that the lives of the carjackers aren’t worth much. This doesn’t sit well with me because Scarpetta has been oozing attitude about the poor, inner city residents of Richmond since book one (see previous reviews).
*Scarpetta becomes unnecessarily hostile/confrontational in several interactions. For example, when talking to Carrie's legal aide attorney, Scarpetta asks a question and the attorney "wouldn't say." Scarpetta reacts strangely. I think this is a poor example of using 1st person pov. Scarpetta assumes that the woman not answering means that she is impeding her investigation and possibly aiding an escaped serial killer, when not answering could mean absolutely anything from not knowing to thinking maybe she needs an attorney herself. Rather than assuming the worst of the woman she's interviewing, I would have like to see Scarpetta either having more of an inner monologue trying to interpret the woman's statements OR asking the woman more questions and leading her to reveal her motivations through a more skillful interrogation. The way this is written, Scarpetta's approach is extremely blunt which is disappointing because Cornwell is a much better writer than this sample might lead you to think.
*Benton Wesley's death. Killing characters, ok, but so many people who work with Scarpetta have died at this point that I'm getting tired of it, especially after the way the last book ended with Scarpetta leaning on Wesley after learning Mark was seeing someone else when he died--which don't forget, was strange because suddenly Scarpetta isn't as upset over Mark's death when Wesley tells her about Mark being at the hotel with a woman. Feel free to disagree, but while I understand having complex feelings toward an unfaithful ex, Scarpetta takes it a bit too far, as if Scarpetta bases Mark's value as a person on his value to her in her life. Scarpetta is angst-y enough with her love life without killing ANOTHER co-worker/love interest.
