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 “book read the most quickly” record with this one. It’s right at 500 pages. I got it on a Saturday and by Monday evening I had finished it. Needless to say, it obviously kept my interest.

In my opinion, the problem with Cornwell’s characters is that they are not very realistic and their behavior is sometimes outright unbelievable. For example, without giving too much away, I find it impossible to believe that Scarpetta and Marino’s reunion would be as anticlimactic as it was, considering the dramatic encounter they had in Book of the Dead. Wesley is too calm and collected, and no one in reality could possibly be as good at everything the way Lucy is. I know, I know, that’s why this is a work of fiction. I do like the fact that apparently Marino finally found his match in this book though. If her books are any indication of the author herself, and I believe they have to be to some degree, Cornwell is a very unusual, interesting woman.