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Scarpetta (Kay Scarpetta #16)
From Americas #1 bestselling crime writers comes the extraordinary new Kay Scarpetta novel.
Leaving behind her private forensic pathology practice in Charleston, South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta accepts an assignment in New York City, where the NYPD has asked her to examine an injured man on Bellevue Hospitals psychiatric prison ward. The handcuffed and chained patient, Osc...more
Leaving behind her private forensic pathology practice in Charleston, South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta accepts an assignment in New York City, where the NYPD has asked her to examine an injured man on Bellevue Hospitals psychiatric prison ward. The handcuffed and chained patient, Osc...more
Hardcover, 500 pages
Published
October 7th 2008
by Putnam Adult
(first published 2008)
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I'm not sure what motivates me to read the Scarpetta books. I know that I always want to like them much more than I actually do. I think I find the author an interesting character and her recent coming out has added to that. But I honestly have to say that her books will never rank among my favorite mysteries. It's not the writing, for there were many lovely sentences in Scarpetta. In fact, I noticed more than in previous books that she writes really well in places. It's the plotting I believe s...more
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If you want to know what little people, GPS chips, snuff films, online gossip rags, veterinarians, dermatologists, CNN, a man who wears ladies Brooks Ariel running shoes, unscrupulous pet shop owners, Marilyn Monroe, and a woman whose last name is Bacardi have in common, this is the book for you. It's also a must read if you like 500-page murder mysteries (with a budding love affair thrown in) that take place and are neatly wrapped up primarily over the course of 1 to 2 days - and during a major...more
Murder mystery that was a true page turner. Kay Scarpetta, a well known forensic patholgist is called on a murder case by Oscar Bane (who is a dwarf). Oscar seeks the help of Scarpetta and the story of the murder of his girlfriend is a bizzare one. In search of the truth, the lives of many of the characters are revealed as the mystery unfolds. Scarpetta herself seems to have something to hide. There are many twists and turns, and I enjoyed this book for its suspense. The only dissappointing...more
Patricia Cornwell promised us she'd do better with this book. She did, but not by much. Her habit of resuscitating characters who have been left for stone-cold dead is particularly annoying. They are all weary and worn. May they rest in peace.
I had pretty much given up on the whole Scarpetta series in general, when my mother insisted I read this book and give it one more shot. The past couple of Scarpetta novels have really, really sucked. It was like watching a well-loved friend slide into some narcissistic downward spiral of insanity and drug use to the point where you don't even know them anymore. They do and say things you never thought they'd do.
Well, this book appears to be an attempt to fix the image of Scarpe...more
Well, this book appears to be an attempt to fix the image of Scarpe...more
I gave up on this series. Then I saw that this latest book, Scarpetta, was getting great reviews on amazon.com. I wondered, could Cornwell have redeeemed herself? I thought the last couple of books were awful, and keep in mind, I loved this series set arounf Dr. Kau Scarpettea and friends, loved each one of the main characters.
So I bought Book of the Dead and Scarpetta. I read Scarpetta first, just to see if is was as good as some people thought. Usually, I won't read books out of o...more
So I bought Book of the Dead and Scarpetta. I read Scarpetta first, just to see if is was as good as some people thought. Usually, I won't read books out of o...more
Throughout the course of the Scarpetta series, Cornwell has done an exemplary job fleshing out the characters, having them grow, exposing their faults, frailties, strengths and complexities. I almost feel like I've come to know these people personally.
In that regard, 'Scarpetta' is probably Cornwell's finest book to date. The relationships she creates between the characters.. the sheer intimacy of the scenes she scripts (and I'm not talking about sex here).. are vivid, engrossing and...more
In that regard, 'Scarpetta' is probably Cornwell's finest book to date. The relationships she creates between the characters.. the sheer intimacy of the scenes she scripts (and I'm not talking about sex here).. are vivid, engrossing and...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Somewhere along the way, I think I missed a Kay Scarpetta book. Either that, or it's just been so darn long since I read the latest one - I spent a good portion of this book trying to puzzle out whether I had missed a book in which some fairly significant things happened, or whether these things took place between books and i really wasn't supposed to know more details.
I really like the characters in these books, and I find forensic pathology fascinating, so I keep coming back for m...more
I really like the characters in these books, and I find forensic pathology fascinating, so I keep coming back for m...more
The trip to China was obviously my period of reading books out of sequence. If you have not read "Book of the Dead," the book which precedes "Scarpetta," by all means read that book first, as something that happens in that book permeates "Scarpetta." Unfortunately, I could not get a copy of the previous book in China, so I had to read the sequel and hope to read "Book of the Dead" soon. I had been disappointed in Cornwell's last few books that I read, ...more
About a year has passed since her nightmarish encounter with buddy Pete Marino, and Kay Scarpetta has relocated to Boston and NYC with her new husband, Benton Wesley. Just as some salacious gossip about Kay and Marino appears in the schlocky online column "Gotham Gotcha", Benton phones Kay with a request to see a murder suspect who will talk to no one but her. The suspect is a little person, the victim, his girlfriend, also a little person, and he vehemently denies having killed her. B...more
This 16th installment of Cornwell’s series featuring forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta finds Scarpetta living in Massachusetts with an apartment in New York, both shared with her husband, former FBI forensic profiler Benton Wesley. Scarpetta’s called to Bellevue, where Oscar Bane, a man suspected of killing his girlfriend, is being held. Bane insists he will talk to no one but Scarpetta and is adamant that he did not murder his girlfriend, although all evidence points to him. Bane also claims h...more
Scarpetta is called in to NYC when a possible murder suspect says he will only talk with her. This draws her in to a case where she , as a Dr. can’t discus what her patient learns about the suspect as the plot thickens. Someone has been putting information about Scarpetta on a gossip web site and its more fiction than fact an none of it good. Marino is now working for the DA Berger and when Berger hires Lucy’s computer firm to work on computers involved in the case, it’s inevitable that Mari...more
This is a poor (not to say pathetic) entry in the Scarpetta series, and has all the earmarks of being written by somebody from a fanfic group. It’s probably not, though, unless they’ve faithfully recreated all of Cornwell’s most irritating writerly affectations (the insistence on starting sentences with nouns that have no articles is the one I’d personally choose to throttle her for). Stylistics aside, this novel is virtually incomprehensible at the level of plot. When I finally got to the part ...more
Scarpetta, the latest Kay Scarpetta mystery from Patricia Cornwell, is a book that evokes schizophrenic reactions from its readers. It isn't that you love it or you hate it. You love it and you hate it. It does have many faults that seem calculated to rub a reader the wrong way. Among these are characters that are getting old and predicable, too much detail, an almost self-conscious use of medical and computer jargon, too many references to events from prior books in the series, a plot line that...more
This is the sixteenth book in the series following Dr Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner. It is difficult to review a thriller without giving away elements of the plot to someone who has yet to read it, but we can safely start with part of the synopsis from Ms Cornwell’s website.
‘Leaving behind her private forensic pathology practice in Charleston, South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta accepts an assignment in New York City, where the NYPD has asked her to examine an injured man on Bellevue ...more
‘Leaving behind her private forensic pathology practice in Charleston, South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta accepts an assignment in New York City, where the NYPD has asked her to examine an injured man on Bellevue ...more
I had almost given up on this series, which centers on medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta. I had come to really enjoy the earlier novels. She started her career in state service in Virginia, moved to the Carolinas for a short time to work with her niece, Lucy, and now she is working out of Boston. She and the rest of the characters usually get drawn into murder mysteries and must work to solve them. Her companions include her now-husband Benton Wesley, the earthy Detective Pete Marino, her lesbi...more
This was a Christmas gift as opposed to a book I would have selected on my own, but for many years I was a Patricia Cornwell fan so I was still pleased to get it. However, it quickly reminded me why I read her books (interesting plots and strong characters) but also why I stopped reading them (extreme sexual violence and the fact that the plots became more and more outrageous). I had not read Book of the Dead but was quickly brought up to speed. I also have to add that I may have set my own “...more
I'm sick of this series, so perhaps my review of the book is tarnished due to that. I do feel the serial killer/murder mystery plot of this book is better than Cornwell's last two. I like the conspiracy theory feel to it (someone is always wstching...). Unlike her last two, I felt that Cornwell was on her game with the medical jargon and the thriller-esque aspect of the story.
But I am sick to death of Benton, Kay, Lucy, and Marino. They are all SO MESSED UP!!! And it's kind of inces...more
But I am sick to death of Benton, Kay, Lucy, and Marino. They are all SO MESSED UP!!! And it's kind of inces...more
It took me an entire week to read this 500 page book. I know I had an unusually busy week, but I believe that if I had a couple of ‘can’t put down books’ I would have gotten several read. The plot was good on this book, but Cornwell seemed to concentrate on characters more than plot.
I’ve been reading the Kay Scarpetta books since she first started writing them. I used to really like the characters but it seems as through the years, they’ve turned dark. I noticed it first with Lucy ...more
I’ve been reading the Kay Scarpetta books since she first started writing them. I used to really like the characters but it seems as through the years, they’ve turned dark. I noticed it first with Lucy ...more
Patricia Cornwell's latest entry in the Kay Scarpetta series (named after both the protagonist and a book being written as part of a plot element) took a while to get moving. While this series usually grabs me and does not let go, a rather confusing series of events takes place early in the book.
When a woman is murdered, the natural suspect is her boyfriend, who insists on being checked into the hospital and will not allow anyone to examine him except Kay Scarpetta. Oscar insists t...more
When a woman is murdered, the natural suspect is her boyfriend, who insists on being checked into the hospital and will not allow anyone to examine him except Kay Scarpetta. Oscar insists t...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I liked this one . . . rather much??? That expression popped up several times throughout this book, and it always stuck out--does anyone actually say it? I don't think I've ever heard anyone say it before, and I don't think I've read it before in a book by Cornwell, or anyone else, although of course I could be wrong and have no way to check. But as it occurred again and again throughout this hefty tome, I came to realize that its very vagueness--its double vagueness, if you will--was somehow ap...more
I listened to this book on CD, which, in my opinion, is the best way to take in Cornwell's Scarpetta series. The narration was excellent, as usual. I had read several reviews that claimed this volume got back to the heart of the Scarpetta series, and I'm not sure that's true. For a book that claims to have Scarpetta herself as its subject, it was awfully sparse in terms of chapters from her perspective. I also feel that the "crisis" that drives Kay, Benton, Lucy, and Marino apart was s...more
Catherine Woodman
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I would agree with reviewers who have n0ted thatlast few Scarpetta books have been disappointing (I would add that they also are a little weird and a little paranoid, which are not overlapping features, nor are they desirable). This one was a good one (not as great as in the past), with a complexity of plot that was satisfactory (the deus ex machina aspect was there but in some ways the book was more odd before the last 75 pages, and then got very normal), The evolving relationship between the...more
If you're into computers and all that go with them then this is a good book for you. For me, the techno dweebie doofus, it was a bit hard to follow.
I will say that the killer, while not obvious at first, had something about them that led you to believe they were up to something; although in the end the killer and the reasons why were somewhat convoluted. Nor was a key component to all four murders ever resolved. And in 500 pages one would think that things like that should have bee...more
I will say that the killer, while not obvious at first, had something about them that led you to believe they were up to something; although in the end the killer and the reasons why were somewhat convoluted. Nor was a key component to all four murders ever resolved. And in 500 pages one would think that things like that should have bee...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I think this book was better than some of the more recent books in the series, but not necessarily as good as the first books.
The main characters of the series each seem to be dealing with a painful event that happened at the end of the last book and have had to learn to trust and love each other once again. I also think that having all of the characters living/spending a significant amount of time in NYC and having Scarpetta become a mainstay on CNN seemed strange. That and the se...more
The main characters of the series each seem to be dealing with a painful event that happened at the end of the last book and have had to learn to trust and love each other once again. I also think that having all of the characters living/spending a significant amount of time in NYC and having Scarpetta become a mainstay on CNN seemed strange. That and the se...more
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Patricia Cornwell was born on June 9, 1956, in Miami, Florida, and grew up in Montreat, North Carolina.
Following graduation from Davidson College in 1979, she began working at the Charlotte Observer, rapidly advancing from listing television programs to writing feature articles to covering the police beat. She won an investigative reporting award from the North Carolina Pre...more
More about Patricia Cornwell...
Following graduation from Davidson College in 1979, she began working at the Charlotte Observer, rapidly advancing from listing television programs to writing feature articles to covering the police beat. She won an investigative reporting award from the North Carolina Pre...more
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