Trace

Against advice from her niece Lucy, Kay Scarpetta answers a request to return to the Richmond medical examiner's office, the same office from which she was fired, to help with the sensitive case of a dead teen. When she and Pete Marino arrive, they find the new medical examiner to be a vituperative, uncooperative martinet and the office that Kay ran so efficiently in chaos. Two murders, oddly linked, demand their attention. In the meantime, Lucy, still unsettled despite her success with the Last Precinct investigative agency, is having personal problems (there's been an attack on her housemate), which strangely enough find her treading the same path as her aunt Kay. Traces of the smart, dynamic, yet vulnerable Scarpetta of the early novels are in evidence here, and Cornwell has better control of her plot and characters than in her last few efforts, faltering only occasionally when psychobabble weighs things down. The mystery is intriguing, there's plenty of forensic detail, and the ending, though perhaps too abrupt, opens the way for Scarpetta and her associates to proceed in any direction that calls to them. --Stephanie Zvirin Copyright 2004 Booklist

Cornwell's latest after the disappointing Blow Fly has indomitable medical examiner Kay Scarpetta returning to her office in Richmond five years after being fired. This homecoming will cheer fans: not only does the move put Scarpetta on her own turf, it reinvigorates Cornwell's storytelling, restoring some of the spunk lately lacking in her lead character. Dr. Joel Marcus, Scarpetta's replacement as Virginia's chief medical examiner, has summoned her back to help him puzzle through the mysterious death of a 14-year-old girl. Marcus is generally loathed: he's petty, inept, has a secret garbage-truck phobia and harbors an intense hatred for Scarpetta. Meanwhile, Scarpetta's niece Lucy, owner of a fabulously successful private-eye firm, has her own troubles trying to sort out who attempted to kill her friend Henri (short for Henrietta), who's now under psychiatric treatment by Scarpetta's lover in Aspen, Benton Wesley. Lurking in the background is Edgar Allan Pogue, a nutcase who has a thing for dead bodies and a grudge against Scarpetta. It's her job, as always, to connect all the puzzling forensic dots and identify the killer in time to save herself and her loved ones. She does this, mostly, but leaves the reader to puzzle out a few salient points on his or her own. Cumbersome backstory slows the action, but in general the old Scarpetta comes through, at least in the main, and this will be enough to reassure her many fans and carry them over until her next appearance. Agent, Esther Newberg. (Sept.) Forecast: A firmer editorial hand might have snipped those dangling plot threads the price, perhaps, of such success is getting enough rope to hang oneself. But thankfully Cornwell escapes that fate, and as the bestselling female crime writer in the world she can expect her regular huge numbers. BOMC, Literary Guild, Mystery Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Cornwell's 13th Kay Scarpetta adventure finds the forensic investigator and her trusted friend, Pete Marino, back in Richmond, VA, to solve the mystery surrounding a 14-year-old girl's death. The cause of death makes no sense, and the reasons for Scarpetta's summons to Richmond are even less clear. When a victim of a demolition accident turns up with trace evidence similar to what was found on the girl's body, Scarpetta must confront a part of her past that she had thought was behind her. Meanwhile, Lucy, a houseguest of Scarpetta's niece, is the victim of a dangerous stalker. This latest installment is somewhat disappointing, lacking the intensity of Cornwell's earlier works, and dividing the focus between Scarpetta and Lucy can be confusing. Still, true fans will want to read it. Recommended for public libraries and popular reading collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/04.] Leslie Madden, Georgia Inst. of Technology Lib., Atlanta (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Five years after getting eased out in a nasty political brawl, Dr. Kay Scarpetta (Blow Fly, 2003, etc.) is back in Richmond to battle still another monstrous killer. Virginia's newly appointed Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Joel Marcus, hasn't a clue why 14-year-old Gilly Paulsson died. Gilly's flu had been responding to antibiotics, and the CME's office can find no apparent cause of death. So Marcus calls Scarpetta back from Florida, where she works with her niece Lucy Farinelli's security firm--ostensibly to consult with her, but actually to criticize and humble her. Tempers flare from the moment Scarpetta shows up with mouthy ex-Richmond cop Pete Marino in tow. But the battle really heats up with the news that the body of Theodore Whitby, a construction worker accidentally killed in the demolition of the old CME building, is marked by the same trace evidence as Gilly Paulsson, who died in bed miles away. Scarpetta must have contaminated one of the bodies, Dr. Marcus insists, because what else could the two cases have in common? Plenty, as readers will know if they've been following the dark doings of sickly Edgar Allan Pogue that Cornwell's planted along with half a dozen other grisly subplots. Cornwell's full-employment approach to evil hits all her high notes: grueling forensics, supernal villainy, Scarpetta's righteous duels with bullying authority figures. If the result is more synthetic than inspired, fans won't be disappointed. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Against advice from her niece Lucy, Kay Scarpetta answers a request to return to the Richmond medical examiner's office, the same office from which she was fired, to help with the sensitive case of a dead teen. When she and Pete Marino arrive, they find the new medical examiner to be a vituperative, uncooperative martinet and the office that Kay ran so efficiently in chaos. Two murders, oddly linked, demand their attention. In the meantime, Lucy, still unsettled despite her success with the Last Precinct investigative agency, is having personal problems (there's been an attack on her housemate), which strangely enough find her treading the same path as her aunt Kay. Traces of the smart, dynamic, yet vulnerable Scarpetta of the early novels are in evidence here, and Cornwell has better control of her plot and characters than in her last few efforts, faltering only occasionally when psychobabble weighs things down. The mystery is intriguing, there's plenty of forensic detail, and the ending, though perhaps too abrupt, opens the way for Scarpetta and her associates to proceed in any direction that calls to them. ((Reviewed August 2004)) Copyright 2004 Booklist Reviews.

Kay Scarpetta is back and back in Virginia, where her investigation into the sorry death of a teenaged girl leads her to some uncomfortable truths. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Cornwell's 13th Kay Scarpetta adventure finds the forensic investigator and her trusted friend, Pete Marino, back in Richmond, VA, to solve the mystery surrounding a 14-year-old girl's death. The cause of death makes no sense, and the reasons for Scarpetta's summons to Richmond are even less clear. When a victim of a demolition accident turns up with trace evidence similar to what was found on the girl's body, Scarpetta must confront a part of her past that she had thought was behind her. Meanwhile, Lucy, a houseguest of Scarpetta's niece, is the victim of a dangerous stalker. This latest installment is somewhat disappointing, lacking the intensity of Cornwell's earlier works, and dividing the focus between Scarpetta and Lucy can be confusing. Still, true fans will want to read it. Recommended for public libraries and popular reading collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/04.] Leslie Madden, Georgia Inst. of Technology Lib., Atlanta Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Cornwell's latest after the disappointing Blow Fly has indomitable medical examiner Kay Scarpetta returning to her office in Richmond five years after being fired. This homecoming will cheer fans: not only does the move put Scarpetta on her own turf, it reinvigorates Cornwell's storytelling, restoring some of the spunk lately lacking in her lead character. Dr. Joel Marcus, Scarpetta's replacement as Virginia's chief medical examiner, has summoned her back to help him puzzle through the mysterious death of a 14-year-old girl. Marcus is generally loathed: he's petty, inept, has a secret garbage-truck phobia and harbors an intense hatred for Scarpetta. Meanwhile, Scarpetta's niece Lucy, owner of a fabulously successful private-eye firm, has her own troubles trying to sort out who attempted to kill her friend Henri (short for Henrietta), who's now under psychiatric treatment by Scarpetta's lover in Aspen, Benton Wesley. Lurking in the background is Edgar Allan Pogue, a nutcase who has a thing for dead bodies and a grudge against Scarpetta. It's her job, as always, to connect all the puzzling forensic dots and identify the killer in time to save herself and her loved ones. She does this, mostly, but leaves the reader to puzzle out a few salient points on his or her own. Cumbersome backstory slows the action, but in general the old Scarpetta comes through, at least in the main, and this will be enough to reassure her many fans and carry them over until her next appearance. Agent, Esther Newberg. (Sept.) Forecast: A firmer editorial hand might have snipped those dangling plot threads the price, perhaps, of such success is getting enough rope to hang oneself. But thankfully Cornwell escapes that fate, and as the bestselling female crime writer in the world she can expect her regular huge numbers. BOMC, Literary Guild, Mystery Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.