Lee Allen's Blog - Posts Tagged "kay-scarpetta"

Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing forensics thriller by Patricia Cornwell.

'Depraved Heart' picks up just two months after the events of 'Flesh and Blood' and continues plot elements from the previous novel, whilst in the midst of a new investigation into a death at first not believed to be a homicide.

There were some quite nostalgic moments in the novel - for the reader, not necessarily for the characters - referencing events that took place in and around some of the earlier novels in the series. The detailed forensics is fascinating as always, taking centre stage along with the paranoia that perhaps nothing and no one can be trusted.

I've very much looking forward to reading 'Chaos' - awaiting its paperback release this summer.



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Chaos by Patricia Cornwell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Chaos is a gripping, fast-paced forensics thriller - the twenty-fourth in Patricia Cornwell's series featuring Kay Scarpetta.

From the very beginning we know this will be a story with personal ramifications for Scarpetta - her sister, Dorothy, often mentioned, but less frequently seen, is on her way to visit; and we soon learn that Scarpetta has been receiving messages from a stalker, who we wonder, along with Scarpetta, may or may not be connected to an insidious character from previous novels.

The central crime - the unexplained death of a woman riding her bicycle - is investigated in the procedural and forensic detail that always proves the strength of Cornwell's novels, building to a climax that wraps up the case and leads Scarpetta into a confrontation of her own. The chapters at the crime scene stand out and prove in every entry of the series to be some of the most gripping elements as evidence is sifted and the crime is reconstructed.

*POTENTIAL SPOILERS*
I've always enjoyed the serialised elements running through the Kay Scarpetta series, recent novels reminding me of the superlative arcs running through earlier novels - particularly 'Cruel and Unusual' through to 'From Potter's Field', the fantastic 'Point of Origin', and 'Black Notice' through to 'Blow Fly'. In the same way that a significant character from the latter arc returned in 'The Scarpetta Factor', a significant character from the earlier arc returned in 'Flesh and Blood' and 'Depraved Heart'. and continues to have a presence in 'Chaos', which draws the current plotline to a satisfying conclusion. The final twist is a brilliant revelation, one that tells the future will not be free of the tightly-woven web of past events.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down - I hope there will be many more cases for Kay Scarpetta to come.



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Autopsy by Patricia Cornwell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A riveting forensic thriller that sees the long-awaited return of Dr. Kay Scarpetta.

A young woman's body lies in the morgue, her throat cut, her hands severed from her body, having been discovered displayed beside a railway track. A ritualistic killing? The beginnings of the work of a serial killer? Or her mutilation simply an attempt to prevent identification?

Called upon to examine the home of a missing young woman, Scarpetta must determine if she is the unidentified victim. Having worked at a medical research facility, it opens up the line of inquiry that the woman's death may be connected to her work.

Scarpetta is then summoned to aid in a situation that may escalate into an international emergency. With threats lurking from within her own home to beyond the planet, she must decipher an overwhelming tangle of evidence in her continuing fight for justice.

'Autopsy' is the twenty-fifth novel in Patricia Cornwell's series featuring Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta, picking up her story several years after the events of the previous novel. Scarpetta has returned to Virginia, once again in the position of Chief Medical Examiner, the first woman to do so when she originally held the post over thirty years before. But she barely recognises her former home, which has suffered the effects of the lapsed decades, recent political and social unrest and the somewhat abated but ever-lingering global pandemic.

Other characters make their return alongside her - her husband and psychologist Benton, now working for the US Secret Service; Marino, who desperately misses investigative work and the early days when he and Scarpetta were a duo fighting crime; and her niece, Lucy, who has become withdrawn and distant, surrounded by her technology, following a tragic loss. The dynamics between each of these characters have driven the series since the very beginning and continue to drive the narrative and the emotional elements of the plot.

One of the elements I have enjoyed most about this series is the breadth of the aspects of forensic analyses and investigative procedures it explores, allowing it to retain its grit and realism. The narrative voice is Kay's, driven first and foremost by the pathology and crime scene analysis, with her knowledge, insight and personal and professional relationships providing a wider perspective - psychological insights through Benton, police procedure through Marino and other police officers, and digital forensics and the use of technology in detecting and solving crime.

Not only a crime thriller, the novel also has shades of political thriller, brushing up against elements more commonly associated with sci-fi. Cornwell's fascination and detailed research underlie every chapter; as ever, with close attention to detail, not only in the forensic science and investigative methods, but also with groundbreaking technology and our exploration beyond this planet. The scenes featuring the remote examination in orbit are fascinating.

Cornwell also beautifully captures the combined sense of nostalgia and alienation when taking a retrospective view on life, something which the pandemic brought into stark focus for many across the planet; with this novel we gain insights into Scarpetta's experiences of that. Long-term readers cannot help but find reminders of Scarpetta's early years, particularly to the first novel, 'Postmortem', bringing the series full circle while simultaneously taking it in exciting new directions.

'Autopsy' is an exhilarating and welcome return for Kay Scarpetta; a gripping entry in the leading forensic science thriller series that continues to push the boundaries of the genre over three decades later.



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Livid by Patricia Cornwell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A dangerous and sinister case for Dr. Kay Scarpetta.

While testifying in a controversial trial, Scarpetta finds herself called to a crime scene at the judge's home, her sister having been found dead.

In a complex case with links to national security concerns and evidence that dangerous technology is in use, events become increasingly alarming as protests surrounding the murder trial escalate.

With tensions threatening to grow more volatile, Scarpetta finds herself drawn into the centre of the hunt for a psychopathic and sadistic terrorist intent on devastating carnage.

'Livid' is the twenty-sixth novel in Patricia Cornwell's forensic science thriller series featuring forensic pathologist Dr. Kay Scarpetta. Following on the heels of 'Autopsy', when Kay had first returned to Virginia to once again take on the position of Chief Medical Examiner which she held when we first met her over three decades ago in ‘Postmortem’, we are reacquainted with Kay in the middle of her testimony in a case she reviewed, originally investigated by her deceased predecessor. With the story narrated by Kay herself, we gain insights into her professional and personal life and experience her responsibilities to the dead.

Through Kay's relationships with her close colleagues, friends and family, we witness the investigation from different angles of law enforcement and through the lens of multiple agencies. In addition to the forensic science and investigative procedure, the novel also blends elements of psychological profiling, political intrigue and national security, and experimental advanced technology. Cornwell’s passion for her subject matter is always evident in her work, incorporating the latest research, allowing us to share this fascination.

Cornwell's forensically detailed prose creates vivid scenes that live and breathe in your mind and linger there - in particular scenes in the courtroom, the crime scenes and the post-mortem examinations, and even an evening conversation around Kay's dinner table, all developed superbly. The novel explores many themes, such as vigilantism and public faith in government and law enforcement, which feel particularly topical considering events in recent years, set very much in the socio-political present. As the narrative takes an unexpected twist, ratcheting up the suspense, we plummet into a tense conclusion which ties all the threads together seamlessly. As Cornwell's plots develop, I often wonder how everything can possibly be wrapped up by the end, yet she never fails to deliver; an expert still at the top of her game.

Fascinating and gripping, 'Livid' is an intense, cutting-edge thriller, with modern science and retrospective mystery as entwined as a strand of DNA.



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Unnatural Death by Patricia Cornwell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A bizarre and mysterious case for Dr. Kay Scarpetta.

Two campers are murdered deep in the forestry of Virginia, necessitating a perilous recovery of their bodies and examination of the scene.

The savagery and frenzied nature of the crime appears more akin to perpetration by a wild animal, yet with the cunning and malice of a very human attacker.

As Scarpetta and her colleagues investigate, danger closes in around them, a threat unlike any they’ve faced before.

'Unnatural Death' is the twenty-seventh novel in Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series. The third of Scarpetta's post-pandemic novels, the forensic science thrillers continue to thread with traditional elements of police procedural and psychological thriller, while sewn with increasing themes of political thriller and touches of speculative fiction. With its gritty realism and impeccably researched material, Cornwell is once again firing on all cylinders in a gripping and immersive thriller, featuring intricate forensic detail, riveting action sequences, fascinating technological advancements and chilling psychological insights.

The mystery and claustrophobia feel more heightened than ever as we head into the dense wilderness with Scarpetta, Lucy and Marino. The crime scene and post-mortem examinations are always captivating, with the frenzied level of violence, isolated forestry location, and seemingly invincible nature of the invisible assailant evoking hues of a slasher; leading into the paranoia of a conspiracy thriller as links to organised crime and threats to international security become apparent – these elements always topical, in the present of our sociopolitical climate. Meanwhile, an unexpected footprint found at the crime scene diverts us into the territory of cryptozoology in a case where nothing may be as it appears.

Despite the detailed focus on the investigations in each novel, the series is primarily character driven, first and foremost through Kay's narrative, and the recurring characters around her - her closest colleagues also being her closest family and friends. We've followed the characters since the very beginning, and their many trials along the way - including some recurring villains and their legacies. Long-term fans especially are treated to a mid-novel twist with the return of a dangerous nemesis, reminding us of much of the history and trauma suffered by the characters throughout the series, heightening the tension as we anticipate a confrontation with a dangerous foe in a tense climax. It never ceases to amaze how skilfully Cornwell ties up the narrative threads in the final pages, having once again delivered an enthralling, intense crime thriller.

Scarpetta will return in book twenty-eight - 'Identity Unknown'.



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Identity Unknown: The gripping new Kay Scarpetta thriller for 2024 by Patricia Cornwell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A riveting forensic thriller featuring Dr. Kay Scarpetta.

In the midst of a harrowing investigation into the death of a child, Scarpetta is summoned to another murder scene by the Secret Service – a man dropped from the sky from an unidentified aircraft into the heart of an abandoned theme park.

The murdered man is Sal Giordano – an astrophysicist and old friend of Scarpetta’s, with whom she had a romantic relationship early in her career.

As the team delve deeper into Sal’s murder, they recognise the signature of a malign evil at work, a nemesis from the past who will stop at nothing to wreak havoc.

‘Identity Unknown’ is the twenty-eighth book in the Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell. Scarpetta is investigating the tragic death of a child, a death the parents claim to have been accidental whilst having begun a campaign of harassment against Scarpetta’s office as she has not yet signed off on the cause of death. Scarpetta’s niece and Secret Service agent, Lucy, contacts her with devastating news – a friend and old flame has been found dead in suspicious and suggestive circumstances. Due to the highly classified nature of the investigation, Scarpetta and Marino must take charge of the recovery of his body from a closed down, crumbling theme park themed on ‘The Wizard of Oz’, and then conduct the autopsy in an undisclosed location. Meanwhile, following the shock return of a past villain in the previous novel, the threat continues to close in and remains never far away.

Cornwell continues the trend of her most recent Scarpetta novels in blending forensic science and crime investigation with speculative fiction and a political edge – crafting a superb thriller for the post-pandemic and new space age, with an additional sliver of intrigue with alleles of unexplained and paranormal phenomena infused within the narrative’s DNA – this time exploring UFOs and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Tightly plotted and lightning-paced, Scarpetta’s narrative draws us in to a disturbing and unsettling investigation. The autopsies always prove fascinating, while the retrieval of bodies within the abandoned theme park and beneath the Chesapeake Bay heighten the suspense and claustrophobia in thrilling action sequences with detailed focus on medico-legal procedure. Cornwell grounds her fiction in realism, the driving narrative of the plot focusing on Kay’s role as medical examiner, hinging on the forensic science and her advisory capacity to law enforcement and the government, her insights into elements outside of her role via her family and colleagues.

In the vein of the most recent additions to the series, ‘Identity Unknown’ once again conjures a sense of nostalgia, referencing events taking place in and around the early books in the series in Scarpetta’s early years as Chief Medical Examiner in Virginia. This time, we delve into an unexplored chapter of Kay’s past, looking back to a summer she took a teaching sabbatical in Rome, where she met Sal Giordano. At the time struggling with her feelings for Benton, who was married, Kay had a brief relationship with Sal, one that was always doomed to fail. But they remained friends. Sal’s death raises a lot of raw emotion for Kay, as well as proving a personal and professional struggle for Benton. Since the beginning of the series, I’ve loved Kay and Benton’s relationship – despite the challenges of their professional lives, there has always been a depth of emotion between them; and, no matter how they may have begun and the trials they’ve faced along the way, they belong together. I always enjoy the moments when we get an emotional insight into their relationship, this investigation bringing past and present emotions bubbling to the surface, not only for Kay and Benton, but also for Marino, Dorothy and Lucy, as the past continues to haunt them all.

An engrossing and gripping read, ‘Identify Unknown’ is another superb novel and a particularly emotional chapter in the series, delving into our hearts as it looks beyond the stars. I shall be eagerly awaiting another entry in this long-running saga.



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