Scarpetta

Kay Scarpetta #16

by Patricia Cornwell, Kate Reading (Narrator)

From America’s #1 bestselling crime writers comes an extraordinary #1 New York Times bestselling 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 Hospital’s psychiatric prison ward. The handcuffed and chained patient, Oscar Bane, has specifically asked for her, and when she literally has her gloved hands on him, he begins to talk—and the story he has to tell turns out to be one of the most bizarre she has ever heard.

The injuries, he says, were sustained in the course of a murder . . . that he did not commit. Is Bane a criminally insane stalker who has fixed on Scarpetta? Or is his paranoid tale true, and it is he who is being spied on, followed and stalked by the actual killer? The one thing Scarpetta knows for certain is that a woman has been tortured and murdered—and more violent deaths will follow. Gradually, an inexplicable and horrifying truth emerges: Whoever is committing the crimes knows where his prey is at all times. Is it a person, a government? And what is the connection between the victims?

In the days that follow, Scarpetta, her forensic psychologist husband, Benton Wesley, and her niece, Lucy, who has recently formed her own forensic computer investigation firm in New York, will undertake a harrowing chase through cyberspace and the all-too-real streets of the city—an odyssey that will take them at once to places they never knew, and much, much too close to home.

Throughout, Cornwell delivers shocking twists and turns, and the kind of cutting-edge technology that only she can provide. Once again, she proves her exceptional ability to entertain and enthrall.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Audiobook

15 pages, Audio CD

First published November 25, 2008

About the author

Patricia Cornwell sold her first novel, Postmortem, in 1990 while working as a computer analyst at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. Postmortem, was the first bona fide forensic thriller. It paved the way for an explosion of entertainment featuring in all things forensic across film, television and literature.

Postmortem would go on to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity awards as well as the French Prix du Roman d’Aventure prize – the first book ever to claim all these distinctions in a single year. To date, Cornwell’s books have sold some 100 million copies in thirty-six languages in over 120 countries. She’s authored twenty-nine New York Times bestsellers.

Patricia’s novels center primarily on medical examiner Kay Scarpetta along with her tech-savvy niece Lucy and fellow investigator Pete Marino. Celebrating 25 years, these characters have grown into an international phenomenon, winning Cornwell the Sherlock Award for best detective created by an American author, the Gold Dagger Award, the RBA Thriller Award, and the Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters for her contributions to literary and artistic development.

Fox 2000 bought the rights to Kay Scarpetta. Working with producer Liz Friedman, Marvel’s Jessica Jones and fellow Marvel EP and Twilight Saga scribe Melissa Rosenberg to develop the film and find Scarpetta a home on the big screen.

After earning her degree in English from Davidson College in 1979, she began working at the Charlotte Observer.

Cornwell received widespread attention and praise for her series of articles on prostitution and crime in downtown Charlotte. From the Charlotte Observer, Cornwell moved to a job with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia – a post she would later bestow upon the fictional Kay Scarpetta.

When not writing from her Boston home, Patricia tirelessly researches cutting-edge forensic technologies to include in her work. Her interests span outside the literary: Patricia co-founded of the Conservation Scientist Chair at the Harvard University Art Museums. She appears as a forensic consultant on CNN and serves as a member of Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital’s National Council, where she advocates for psychiatric research. She’s helped fund the ICU at Cornell’s Animal Hospital, the scientific study of a Confederate submarine, the archaeological excavation of Jamestown, and a variety of law enforcement charities. Patricia is also committed to
funding scholarships and literacy programs. Her advice to aspiring authors: “Start writing. And don’t take no for an answer.”


Social and Digital Outlets

http://www.patriciacornwell.com

https://www.facebook.com/patricia.cor...

https://twitter.com/1pcornwell

https://instagram.com/1pcornwell/


Other areas of expertise & interests
Forensics | Forensic Technologies | Ballistics | Weapons | Explosives | Pathology & Autopsies | Crime | Historical and Unsolved Criminal Cases | Jack The Ripper | Helicopter Piloting | Suba Diving | Archaeological Excavation Experience |

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book Review
3 of 5 stars to Scarpetta, the 16th book in the "Kay Scarpetta" thriller series, written in 2008 by Patricia Cornwell. In this book, Kay takes an assignment in NYC, where she's handling another crazy potential killer, but one who claims to have a connection to her -- again. The past keeps creeping up in these novels... and sometimes it's just too unbelievable. I enjoyed the book, and it's better than the last few... but I'm being harder and harder on authors who write lengthy series. It has to be about more than putting out a book a year to make fans happy and to earn more money. I want depth. I need creativity. I want something new.

The good things about the book: lots of gore, detailed autopsy-type info, crazy loons for killers... it's a good alternative to the norm of a cozy mystery or a historical fiction novel. I like how the books take me away from reality to a place I don't believe exists, but I'm sure there are some people who deal with murderers like this every day. The other good aspect is the delving into cyber space. Given I work in technology, I love seeing all this stuff, assuming it's well done. Sometimes it's dummied down too much, sometimes it's too detailed. Can't make everyone happy all the time.

A decent book to read in the series, but still not back on track yet.

About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. Note: All written content is my original creation and copyrighted to me, but the graphics and images were linked from other sites and belong to them. Many thanks to their original creators.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 she falls down on.

This latest in the Scarpetta series is better than the last several have been - easier to follow, keeping the characters, plotlines and locations more in sync with each other. However, I'd still found it hard to stay with and ended up skimming the last 50 pages. The crime that is the center of this novel seems somehow "unworthy" of gathering all these players together to throw every resource available at solving it. The resolutions of some dangling plot lines from earlier books are unsatisfying. I wish her characters would have a direct conversation that lasted more than a line or two and could actually get somewhere. We're always told how blunt Scarpetta can be, but I don't often see it, myself.

And there's the equally frustrating introduction of some seemingly inconsistent character behaviors - an example would be Benton suddenly having a wandering eye - and then no more about it. The author alludes to Benton and Scarpetta not having sex. Good lord, tell me more about that. Does Kay object? Not say anything at all? Have they talked about her near-rape experience? Aargh. I know it's a mystery, but I've heard Cornwell say she wanted to concentrate more on the characters in this book. I think she just dipped her toe in the water.

At least Lucy gets some action with the beautiful Jamie Berger, but there wasn't enough clarity there either. I don't know how these people get along with each other when they expect everyone to be a mindreader - including the reader. I'm not asking to be told what the characters are up to, but I do want to be shown.

Having said all of that, I still find Kay Scarpetta strangely compelling, as is Patricia Cornwell, and so I'll continue with the series if she will.

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re read April 2024

Story 4 stars**
Audio 4 stars**
Narrator Kate Reading

[Aelel · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 Scarpetta that was almost hopelessly tarnished in the last couple of books. She's finally back in a morgue rather than working in some bizarre private business with her deranged niece Lucy. Lucy has finally calmed down rather than killing people overseas. Benton, while not in law enforcement, is back working in a psychiatric hospital, rather than inexplicably faking his death. And Marino...well, he's apparently apologetic for the uncharacteristic attack on Scarpetta, and the author attempts to undo what damage she has done.

All in all, it was the most normal feeling of her books in a while, and I'm probably going to give her next book a chance. She screws this next one up, though, and I'm out.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well-written, entertaining, fast paced, crime thriller. It has a strong and capable female protagonist, engaging secondary characters, murder, mystery, twists and turns, and a satisfying conclusion. The references are relevant, seventeen years after this book was originally published. This series should be read in order for continuity. I listened to the audio version of this novel, and the narrator, Ms. Kate Reading, does an outstanding job voicing the characters.

[Heidi (can’t retire soon enough) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 16 in the Scarpetta series made me long for old fashioned detective books-- long on action and short on gizmos and gadgets... unfortunately this book has too much technology (yes, I'm sounding like my grandmother now) and not enough action. I love a little CSI with my crime stories, but this was overkill.

This book was better than the last one and I can only hope it serves as a transition to a better series, because it introduced some new chemistry between characters and brought back a few old ones.

(Reviewed 2/21/09)

[Bett · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 order in a series, especially a murder mystery series, but I had to know.

I was relieved and pleased. Scarpetta is very good, very entertaning, with Cornwell throwing around obscure technical terms. I was in heaven. It felt so good to relax and really enjoy Lucy and Kay, Benton and even Pete again.

If I have to choose something to quibble about, it may be that while die-hard fans have cerainly waited long enough to have some of these characters pull themselves together, and while I was actually surprised that Cornwell allowed some of them to do so, maybe that went a little too far. Sure everybody has longed through all these books (16) for Kay to relax and be in the moment and find happiness, for Lucy to come down off the ceiling and get real, for Pete to clean himself up and get his head out of his ass, but I found his redemption, in particular, a little rushed and unbelieveable, considering he had further to go than anyone.

After 16 long books, we fans deserve a happy ending. That's all.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, first Patricia Cornwell book I've ever read and thought it was well written and it kept me hooked right the way through.

Now I need to read the whole series from the beginning as I'm sure then it will be even better!

Four stars.

[Megan Baxter · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my first Patricia Cornwell, starting 16 books into the series, which is probably not optimal. Earlier books may be better. I may try them some day. I may not.

Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook

[Wendell · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 where the baddie was revealed, I literally could neither understand nor remember how they’d deduced it was her/him (no spoilers here). Yes, the plotting is that ineptly handled. If Cornwell had made me care a little more, I might have gone back and tried to figure it out; as it was, I was just glad it was over. There are pages and pages in which you’re not sure who’s talking or you don’t know what they’re talking *about,* which is quite a bit worse. Here, Lucy has been rendered irritating, bossy, and snooty in a way that (really, Patricia) makes her less compelling as a character with every page. Her “denouement” (let’s put it that way) in this novel is the most unbelievable, pointless thing I’ve every read in a Cornwell novel (and that’s saying a lot), as are the final scenes with their “resolution” of the entire plot structure (an extremely complicated -- and I mean, take notes, because you won't follow otherwise -- set-up comes down to as banal an ending as ever you will find in crime fic). And Scarpetta herself has become cold, opaque, uncommunicative (she makes Marino look like Chatty Cathy) and impossible to like. Other characters keep telling you how kind and generous she is, but you’ll have to take their word for it. In this 16th outing, I wonder whether Cornwell has simply gotten tired of the series; she writes, in any case, as if she wishes Scarpetta would just go away. If she keeps it up, her readers certainly will.

[Judy · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

1⭐️ = Not For Me.
Hardback.
I think that this is the last in this series that I’ll read. The last few that I’ve read haven’t been great for me.
The start felt extremely rushed - just blundering in , leaving me fairly confused.

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

After Cornwell's last few books, plus the Amazon review "situation" from the last book, I'm not sure I can take another Scarpetta book. I barely finished Book of the Dead...so I am reluctant for this book. Of course, I've said that for the last 4 of the series, so I'm sure I'll end up reading it.

***After trying to read***
I had to stop. i was half way through the book, and nothing happened except talking between Benton and the NYC DA, and Marino at a new job. Kay was examining a possible murder suspect. That took 200 pages. Not worth picking the book up, IMO. Scarpetta's days of yore are LONG since past.

[Vicki Kee · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 holiday at that.

Somehow Patricia Cornwell manages to keep you a little interested and ultimately it all comes together if you can make it to the end. The plot is totally unbelievable (for example, Lucy can call up a lab several states away in the middle of the night on New Year's and fly crime scene samples to them to be analyzed and get the results back hours later), but it does make you wonder what makes Cornwell's mind tick.

It's not Cornwell's best Scarpetta book, but it's not her worst either. She tries to "redeem" one of the major supporting characters, but it didn't work for me. Why she ever wrote the character so he needed to be redeemed in the first place is inexplicable to me. I think she may have jumped the shark with this character.

[Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

First read: January 2009
Re-read: January 2020

Scarpetta probably holds the record for the book that has taken me the longest time to read. I started reading it in September 2019 and didn't finish for another four months! In the book's defence though, I was going through one of the busiest times of my life and was barely able to pick it up at all.
Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it a real return to form after Book of the Dead. The murder mystery was compelling and the tense atmosphere Cornwell created during Kay's conversations with the alleged killer held my interest throughout the book.
Scarpetta is also the last book in the series that is a 're-read' for me - every book from now on will be a new read.

[Bree · Rating 1 out of 5]

You miss a couple of these books, and suddenly Marino is a madman? Wha? This book is akin to an American eating Marmite- I'm reading it, but I'm not particularly sure why.

[D Dyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt that Cornwell shied away from actually showing us most of the pivotal character development moments in this book as well as failing to really build the tension with the mystery. Lucy appears prominently and is one of my favorite characters in the series so, points for that but there’s just a lot lacking here.

[Ellen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have enjoyed most of the Scapetta books in the past, but I picked this one up with some doubt because I did not like the last one I read. I should have left it at the library. It seems that Kay has gone from researching crime to being the constant victim of psychos with nothing better to do than be mean to her. The main characters are becoming unlikeable to a man, and the side characters are poorly outlined and unbelieveable. And oh yeah - gratuititous dwarves. I am within a chapter of the end and may just throw it across the room instead of finishing it. Last Scarpetta I will ever read.

[Tricia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was stuck with this book on an emergency international trip for 3 weeks as my only English reading material. It took me almost the whole trip to finish it and when I was done I actually threw it away.
I am someone who always donates books, but I couldn't possibly think of wanting to pass this book onto anyone - not even an enemy to read.

[Ana Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

En la linea de sus anteriores entregas. La trama se apoya mucho en la tecnología forense y en como el mundo digital puede ser utilizado para el acoso y la manipulación de pruebas.

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kay Scarpetta book 16: Amazingly, after 15 previous books, the series continues to get even better… a serial killer targeting 'little people', Scarpetta's close friends; a really nasty website targeting Scarpetta; the aftermath of Marino's attack last book; And Berger's back!; the ongoing saga of Lucy's life... so much drama in this genre busting series! Just uploading this old review has me thinking of going and rereading the series now! 8 out of 12.

[Deity World · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again lots going on, quite repetitive and graphic

[Mazola1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 is sometimes hard to follow and falls apart at the end, topped off with a ridiculous serial murderer with an unbelievable motive. Cornwell also has the infuriating habit of breaking up events into pieces and drawing out revealing important information in a way that would do taffy pulling proud. And, as many have noted, like the other books in the series, it's studded with ugly and graphic sexual violence.

With all that having been said, I'll confess that I still found Scarpetta to be compulsively readable. Maybe even morbidly fascinating. It's suspenseful in a weird and mysterious way. The plot and the main character are original. I read this book as a break from my usual diet of hard core non-fiction and it served the purpose admirably. It's 500 pages long, but I read it in 4 days. Maybe it falls into the category of mindless entertainment, but nobody writes mysteries the way Patricia Cornwell does.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 in the books following the one in which her girlfriend was the villain. Next Benton’s personality seemed to change after he reappeared after everyone thought he had died. The final straw was when Pete went over to the wild side. Kay has always seemed a little on the stuffy strange side but what do you expect from a medical examiner. I find any book less entertaining when I don’t care for any of the characters and even the new ones in this book didn’t do a thing for me.

[Alison S ☯️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

After feeling like I was starting to fall out of love with this series, this particular installment seemed right back on track again. Tightly plotted, with less self-indulgence and more psychological depth and nuance.

[Filip · Rating 2 out of 5]

First a disclaimer: this is the sixteenth book in the series and my first experience with Kay Scarpetta (a very unfortunate name, if you know Polish). I am of the opinion that unless a series is one continuous story, like Lord of the Rings or Song of Ice and Fire (can it be called a series in such a situation?), the reader should be able to enjoy each book as a standalone experience. That said, I do acknowledge that I might have missed some important parts but not knowing previous volumes, which may have contributed to my lack of enjoyment.

The disclaimer is doubly needed as this book is full of references to either events that happened in previous volumes or - I don't know which - that occurred "off-screen" between volumes. In fact, and this is my biggest gripe with this book, the majority of it focuses on personal drama revolving around those events. And by "majority" I mean that there is barely any space left for the actual plot and mystery. That alone isn't a big problem, because the plot is rather weak and boring and the resolution comes completely 0ut of left field. Unfortunately the personal drama is, if possible, even worse with characters acting in weird ways, that might be consistent with their characterization from earlier in the series but to me felt completely forced.

Also, I know men get (rightly so) a lot of grief for writing terrible female characters. At least based on this book alone, I must say its author writes terrible and utterly unconvincing male characters. Frankly, I can't recommend this book but actually it was so bad, that I now want to read the earlier volumes, just to see if the series has always been this bad or was this one a one time thing? I mean, there had to be something good here if this series got to be over sixteen book long, right?

I sure hope so.

[crayolaab · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 more, but I have to admit something about this book didn't sit right with me. The writing style seemed more similar to The Front than prior Scarpetta novels

It was very strange to have Scarpetta intersecting so much with suspects rather than dead people, and I found it peculiar to have her be on someone else's turf rather than her own. It changes the dynamic and I don't think I like it!

Lucy's new company is an interesting concept and I did enjoy how Patricia Cornwell was able to tie together so many different characters.

I'm now inspired to start back at the beginning and read through the entire series again, just to remind myself of what these books used to be like!

[Jamie]

I expected a lot more from Ms Cornwell, who's writing I usually love. This book didn't have the same excitement, punch or intruige that the Scarpetta series usually offers. I usually finish the Scarpetta books in a matter of days (which is unusual for me becasue I'm not an exceptionally fast reader) because they are riddled with excitement, mystery and fast-moving plot. Sadly this one is an exception to that rule. I was only able to muddle through about 50 pages before becoming bored and slightly irritated. It seemed more to do with the character herself, her fame and media scandal, than the cases she works. The reason I as a read like her in the first place is because her traits, personality and uniqueness come out organically via the situations she finds herself in, not because they're being shoved in my face. And the business with Marino, really? That left me rolling my eyes. I didn't feel this was a good direction to go, and that it only did a disservice to the author's longtime readers and the characters themselves.

[Seritasunflower · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 part about the book is that I was able to figure out the killer several chapters before the end.

[Geri Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm just not as into Scarpetta as I used to be. It seems there was so much STUFF other than the crime going on, that I lost interest in the story. Is someone ghostwriting this series now?