Cause of Death

Her publisher is giving it plenty of prepub hype, but Cornwell's latest crime novel is, frankly, disappointing. Her usually crisp prose and gripping plots have turned mushy, vague, and unsatisfying. In her latest case, the always savvy Dr. Kay Scarpetta investigates the death of a young reporter who has apparently drowned at Virginia's Inactive Navy Shipyard. Scarpetta suspects the death wasn't an accident, and in her effort to get to the bottom of the case, she soon finds herself and her loved ones the targets of violence. The plot quickly turns bizarre and nearly inexplicable: there's a Branch Davidian-like cult with a plan to take over the world, the invasion of a nuclear power plant and the disruption of the entire Virginia power and electric system, a band of violence-prone Middle Eastern terrorists, and--oh, yes--the resurrection of Scarpetta's long-dormant love affair with FBI agent Benton Wesley. The story has Cornwell's trademark emphasis on detailed forensics and the requisite amounts of action and gore, but this time that's about all. Still, Cornwell's multitude of fans will probably forgive her for any weaknesses. When you're as hot as she is at the moment, bestsellerdom is almost an afterthought. Buy plenty--there's certain to be a huge demand. (Reviewed May 15, 1996)0399141464Emily Melton

First, the good news: the omni-competent Kay Scarpetta is back, along with her sidekicks, in a murder mystery that's tighter than her last escapade, From Potter's Field. Chief medical examiner for the state of Virginia and an FBI consultant, Kay finds ample opportunity to demonstrate her skills in the autopsy room and outside it, too: here, she also dives with a Navy SEAL rescue squad and, through her computer-genius niece Lucy, an FBI agent, takes an up-close-and-personal look at a robot operated via virtual reality. But there is bad news: the work lacks the extraordinary, can't-go-to-bed-til-you're-finished suspense of Cornwell's earlier novels, e.g. Cruel and Unusual. The killers here, members of a nihilistic, fascist cult who think their founder akin to God, are identified early on but never developed as characters. Their crimes, while heinous, don't baffle and tease the reader (or Kay) in the manner of the villain Temple Gault, who was dismissed in the last book. While Cornwell's authoritative presentation of forensic sleuthing, FBI procedures and high-tech crime-fighting compensates mightily for the overneat dovetailing of characters' paths and even the implausible role Kay plays in the climax, the hurried, almost slapdash pace of the climactic scenes is disappointing from so accomplished a writer. But even at less than her best, Cornwell remains a master of the genre, instilling in readers an appetite that only she can satisfy. One million first printing; $750,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild, Mystery Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selections. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Any pop culture fan's list of prominent medical examiners has to mention Kay Scarpetta on the same line as Quincy. As the star of Cornwell's numerous best sellers (e.g., The Body Farm, LJ 8/95), Scarpetta now must use her technosavvy investigative skills to combat a vicious supremacist group. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The fascination with monstrous evil that's run through Cornwell's recent work (From Potter's Field, 1995, etc.) blossoms with a vengeance when Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta is called out on New Year's Eve to examine the body of Ted Eddings, an investigative reporter killed during an unauthorized dive in Norfolk's Inactive Naval Ship Yard. The typically arresting opening sequences--which take Scarpetta from beneath the icy waters of the Elizabeth River to the morgue, where she makes a shocking discovery about the manner of Eddings's death--masterfully set up all the conflicts that follow, from Scarpetta's instant antipathy to the Chesapeake police detective who'll end up lodging a sexual harassment complaint against her to her uneasy examination of the Book of Hand, the Bible of radical New Zionist messiah Joel Hand. And the momentum builds through a second murder, as usual unnervingly close to Scarpetta (has any series heroine ever survived so many deaths by proxy?). It's not till Scarpetta joins her brainy FBI niece Lucy and her tormented FBI lover Benton Wesley, who's leaving his wife but still can't commit himself to Scarpetta, to run the New Zionists' nefarious, incredible plot to ground and flush them out of their hidey-hole that Cornwell's apocalyptic moralizing turns shrill and unconvincing. Full marks, as always, for the gripping forensic detail and beleaguered Scarpetta's legendary toughness. It's only the sketchy, unbelievable villains who ring hollow. (First printing of 1,000,000; $750,000 ad/promo budget; Literary Guild main selection; Mystery Guild main selection)

Any pop culture fan's list of prominent medical examiners has to mention Kay Scarpetta on the same line as Quincy. As the star of Cornwell's numerous best sellers (e.g., The Body Farm, LJ 8/95), Scarpetta now must use her technosavvy investigative skills to combat a vicious supremacist group. Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information.

On New Year's Eve, a scuba diver, identified as investigative reporter Ted Eddings, is found dead 30 feet below the surface of the Elizabeth River. Was Eddings hunting for Civil War relics or fishing for a bigger story in the Inactive Naval Ship Yard? An anonymous phone call reporting the death draws Virginia medical examiner Kay Scarpetta into the case. The murder of a morgue assistant driving Scarpetta's car and the discovery of radioactive material on the passenger side puts Scarpetta, her niece Lucy, and colleagues Wesley Benton and Pete Morino on the trail of a right-wing militia group who eventually seize a nuclear power plant. After the disappointing From Potter's Field (LJ 8/95), Cornwell's seventh novel is an improvement, though it is not quite as good as her earlier books. Her plot is still contrived, but her characters are more fully developed. Perhaps one day Cornwell will devote a novel to the troubled, complicated Lucy. For popular fiction collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/96.]?Wilda Williams, "Library Journal" Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information.

First, the good news: the omni-competent Kay Scarpetta is back, along with her sidekicks, in a murder mystery that's tighter than her last escapade, From Potter's Field. Chief medical examiner for the state of Virginia and an FBI consultant, Kay finds ample opportunity to demonstrate her skills in the autopsy room and outside it, too: here, she also dives with a Navy SEAL rescue squad and, through her computer-genius niece Lucy, an FBI agent, takes an up-close-and-personal look at a robot operated via virtual reality. But there is bad news: the work lacks the extraordinary, can't-go-to-bed-til-you're-finished suspense of Cornwell's earlier novels, e.g. Cruel and Unusual. The killers here, members of a nihilistic, fascist cult who think their founder akin to God, are identified early on but never developed as characters. Their crimes, while heinous, don't baffle and tease the reader (or Kay) in the manner of the villain Temple Gault, who was dismissed in the last book. While Cornwell's authoritative presentation of forensic sleuthing, FBI procedures and high-tech crime-fighting compensates mightily for the overneat dovetailing of characters' paths and even the implausible role Kay plays in the climax, the hurried, almost slapdash pace of the climactic scenes is disappointing from so accomplished a writer. But even at less than her best, Cornwell remains a master of the genre, instilling in readers an appetite that only she can satisfy. One million first printing; $750,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild, Mystery Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selections. (July) Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information.