Another great Scarpetta novel that sees Kay facing mortal danger and making some life-changing decisions. Hoping we’re going to see more of Jaime too, and that Marino will continue to feature in future novels - he’s way too big a character to leave behind. Given how connections have been revealed in this story, I think that’s a safe bet.

11th of the Kay Scarpetta series. Sets you up for the change in the next couple books. Kay is accused of being behind the murder of the police commissioner. Although she is innocent, it damages her reputation.

I'm not gonna tag this suspense because, well, it wasn't.
Scarpetta gets tried for a murder in the previous book so we go through the ENTIRE previous book in this one. With great detail. Every little action Scarpetta did is repeated.
So you can either read the previous one or this one, I don't feel you lose anything if you skip one or the other.
Cornwell, what the f?
Lucy is fired from FBI so she starts The Last Precinct with her former boss. And they're lovers now so Jo's gone. Kay resigns and in the end her trial doesn't go to court, she's able to convince the jury that she didn't kill Bray. She has the help of her attorney, Berger, with whom I predict she's gonna have a lot of work in the future since Kay's now on her own job wise. I liked the ending and the solving of the murders of two cops in this one, otherwise way too much dialogue, not enough solving of murders, too much repetition from previous book. And why in the hell didn't Benton just die, why are we still "investigating his murder" - Cornwell: Let it go!

This is too stupid for words.

DNF 58% p.262 (maybe i'll get back to this when i next want to torture myself)

This is probably the best instalment in the Scarpetta series. Unfortunately, things went downhill after The Last Precinct and each new Scarpetta book has been a huge disappointment...

I would give this book 2 and one-half stars. I love mysteries, but I am very disappointed when I can tell you who the bad guy is in the first fifty pages and I did know in the first 50 pages of “The First Precinct.” Yes, this book is a page turner, but the plot is as full of holes as Swiss cheese.

In this 11th book in the 'Kay Scarpetta' series, the medical examiner is dealing with a lot of personal problems while investigating several murders.



The series is best read in order to avoid spoilers, but the book can be read as a standalone.

*****

As the book opens Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner, has maimed the deformed serial killer Jean-Baptiste Chandonne ('the werewolf') in self-defense.



Kay believes Chandonne killed the corrupt former police chief Diane Bray but - in a twist - Kay herself is being investigated for Bray's death.

As usual in the Scarpetta novels Kay is the target of various malevolent individuals who wish her harm. (In Cornwell's books being a medical examiner is a very high risk job). Kay is more depressed and fed-up than usual for a number of reasons: she's still in deep mourning after the murder (in a previous book) of her boyfriend FBI profiler Benton Wesley;



She's upset about her niece, Lucy, being suspended from her job at ATF;



Her 'sidekick', detective Pete Marino, is being more obnoxious than usual;



and she's thinking of quitting her job as Chief Medical Examiner.

Part of the book is devoted to Kay examining her life in talks with her psychiatrist/friend Anna Zenner and much of this self-examination comes off as whiny and complaining.



The book's best parts revolve around the investigation of a couple of bizarre torture murders that are labeled hate crimes and, towards the end, a young boy's suicide.

As usual the scenes of autopsies conducted in the morgue are graphic and the forensic analyses of evidence is interesting.



The book is okay but not one of the best in the series.

You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....

I hated the French werewolf like story. Just hated it.

Maybe I should have given a little more time between books 10 and 11 in this series. There were so many references back to book 10 in The Last Precinct that felt incredibly redundant.

My favorite part of The Last Precinct was the description of Kay Scarpetta's kitchen. It sounds amazing - a huge butcher block, industrial appliances. If I had a kitchen like that, I'd never want to leave it. I'd also weigh a few hundred pounds more than I currently weight!

As for the story itself, it was ok. I'm glad Marino's over-the-top rude behavior was explained. That was incredibly out of character for him and it upset me, with him being one of the main reasons I continue with the series at this point.

I did learn a little about DNA and why DNA from a hair follicle isn't as effective as DNA from blood or saliva. So the tidbits of forensic info I pick up from these books is another reason I keep reading. Hopefully soon I'll come across another storyline in one of the Kay Scarpetta books that is compelling enough for me to say the stories are part of the reason I keep reading!

It’s amazing and wondeful how every book in the series is just incredible

This was a fairly typical Scarpetta novel, although better written than some; it started off as being about one thing and turned out to be about another, after abandoning its developed theme. I wonder if the author just gets bored or sidetracked but not only was the original theme never satisfactorily closed but neither was the new theme - and most of the surprises were predictable. However, points for decent writing and keeping me hanging for a while.

Crazy story