Cornwell's writing has changed a bit from her previous books and can't say I'm a fan.

I also had to look at the summary of the previous book twice because I was convinced I missed something not knowing who Henri is. The way she was introduced and spoken about reads very much like we should already be aware of her. There are also other little bits throughout the book, again, I noticed this last time, mostly in conversations that seemed cryptic that I wasn't getting.

Lucy is getting to be really irritating character too, her personality isn't great.

Some times Cornwell repeated sentences or stated them again only slightly differently in the same paragraph or next, that was annoying and seems like poor writing. I got it the first time I was told, I don't need another one or two repeats right after.

All that said I still did enjoy it and do want to read the next one. However, I also do hope the next one is an improvement, and brings things together better instead of leaving ends that won't be picked up again.

I have a feeling that Scarpetta's unnatural reaction to Benton's "resurrection" will haunt me until the last page of these series...

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.

OH MY GOD PLEASE STOP BOOHOOING ABOUT YOURSELF. The entire tone of this book was just so pity party that I couldn't even finish it. I had to put it down about a third of the way through. Where did the strong woman, who valued her mind and knew her capabilities go? I understand character developement, but why must the protagonist be such a WIMP?

A good kind of read.. but somethings are vague... something is left half said, half described, some incidents are hard to link to each other, you have to think back and work it all out.

TRACE by Patricia Cornwell (the 13th book of the Kay Scarpetta adventures, an audio Russian edition in this case) was a nice distraction from my usual non-fiction books. Through several plotlines- one with Kay Scarpetta and her constant companion Pete Marino, another with Lucy Farinelli and Benton Wesley - TRACE shows an investigation of several deaths and assaults in Virginia and Florida that, at first sight, seem unrelated. But as we, detective story lovers know, in most cases, unrelated deaths lead to one killer...

I rate the book 2.5 stars rounded to 3. The sudden ending (I listened to it twice because I thought I missed a piece) took away 0.5 points. There was no suspense, no catch-and-chase moments. A blurb to a Russian edition that differs considerably from the English version was the biggest plot spoiler of all times. It reveals the information readers should find out themselves. For example, the connection between the deaths. I still remember solid hardcovers of the series in Russian, with prices far exceeding low-quality paperback volumes sold on every corner in every kiosk. Why editors of the Russian edition decided to change the blurb is beyond my understanding.

TRACE is not the worst yet not the brightest detective story I've read. I can't call it a thriller though because characters' squabbles take up the most of the book.

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.

Trace is such a pretentious, and bad hardcover.

The novel insists on expounding unnecessary theories in painful details. It really goes to great lengths to describe medical methods and equipment in highly professional terms. Not that I am not grateful about it. But it truly comes across as excessive. In the process of it getting theoretical and academic, the book seems to forget that the biggest goal here is to provide a good story.

Between laboriously trying to look expert, and the interminable but empty words, Trace becomes such a pretentious b-word. Say, its 100 first pages that are not telling anything at all. I mean, 100 pages is by no means few. So, to me, it seems like the book is putting out as many chapters and pages as possible, not because they serve a good purpose but because that thickness would defly make the book sell at a high price. It’s such an offensive accusation I’ve just made there, but until there’s a better explanation, I am just too furious to deny my hunch.

Trace by Patricia Cornwell is a Scarpetta Novel. Patricia Cornwell writes this story in three settings like: South Florida; Richmond, Virginia; and also in Aspen. The story mostly takes place in Richmond, Virginia, in modern time. It’s written in third-person omniscient, but the story mainly revolves around Dr. Kay Scarpetta. Everyone calls her Scarpetta. The story starts when Scarpetta returns to Richmond after five years to help on a case.

I like this book because it is about solving cases and getting down to the truth. Scarpetta is the meaning to getting down to the bottom of things. She is smart and always right most of the time, and that is way everyone respects Scarpetta instead of their new boss.

After Scarpetta left Richmond five years later when she returns, Chief Medical Examiner, new boss, takes over her old job. His name is Dr. Joel Marcus. Dr. Marcus is the one who called Scarpetta to come back to Richmond to work on the case of fourteen-year-old girl who died of no cause and no evidence why she died. Dr. Marcus blames Scarpetta for everything that goes wrong in his life.

Scarpetta and her friend, Marino, are the ones who are trying to figure out why Dr. Marcus wants Scarpetta to come back to Richmond if he doesn’t know her. Also why how does a fourteen-year-old girl die if she doesn’t even have a reason or evidence of why she died. . Marino has a very different presents when he walks in the building. “’That’s enough, please,’ Dr. Marcus snaps. ‘This is not a beer hall.’” Dr. Marcus says to Marino when they first meet. In search for answers, they come across some weird and mysterious people. They come across the FBI agent, Karen Weber, who is beautiful but starts in the case and misses everything up.

Scarpetta also gets clues from her on the edge boyfriend, Benton. Benton is also working on a case and is in Aspen, but doesn’t tell Scarpetta anything about it. They have boundaries and respect one another’s boundary. Benton’s case is about a girl who works for Scarpetta’s niece, Lucy, who gets raped at Lucy’s house. Lucy thinks everything is as bad as it seems. “’Just some punk interested in you car, and you have to turn it into an international incident.’ Says Rudy.”

The theme of the story is everything has a solution; even though, it may not be there in plain sight. Benton starts to notice that the case he is working on is some how connected to Scarpetta’s case. The only thing is that the cases are nothing alike.

As Scarpetta drifts more in the case, she begins to realize that the fourteen-year-old girl was killed. The person who killed her has killed before. The killer also used to work with Scarpetta.

The killer is very hard to find. Killer’s prints aren’t in the computer, and the killer doesn’t seem to care to leave evidence. The problem is the evidence is hard to find, but killer wants people to know that there is a killer. The evidence is spread between three different cases. The killer is mostly concern with Scarpetta and Lucy.

Trace is a really good book to read. It’s not that easy or advance to read, but is hard to understand but the characters seem to cover the confusing parts in the end. The only way to find out who killed the fourteen-year-old girl and who is stalking Lucy life is to read this wonderful book.

Interesting how in the last couple of books, it was Teun who was starting this new company, and now then only mention Lucy. Where did Henri come from?? She’s a cop? She’s an actress? She’s a psychopath? I’m so confused. Why don’t Benton and Kay just talk to each other, do they really need all these secrets?

a bit tame after the events of the previous books but the added criminal insight is still refreshing

p68: rudy didn't used to lecture her.

p284: lucy had to get a flight physical right away because her medical certificate expired in two days.

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.