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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
As a Salisbury, Maryland native, I really enjoyed the descriptions of Tangier Island, the Bay, and Crisfield. As a physician assistant/associate (PA), I enjoyed the aspects of smallpox and being that it's 2023 and we've all lived through a pandemic, I also found the descriptions accurate and intriguing. Not to mention the references to AOL and "you've got mail." ;) another enjoyable Scarpetta story!
In this installment Kay, Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner, is investigating some cases that appear to be connected to five serial murders that took place in Ireland several years ago. When an additional body turns up with similar, but several strikingly different characteristics, she believes they are now dealing with a copycat.
In addition, the most recent body is covered with what appears to be a smallpox like infection. After further investigation, it isn't quite smallpox, but a variation of the disease that we do not have a vaccination for. When the copycat killer stats contacting Kay directly via email and eventually in a chat room, Kay is determined to lure the perpetrator into making a mistake that allows the FBI to trace the connection and find the killer.
Kay's niece Lucy, who works as an IT expert for the FBI, is once again instrumental in solving the case. I always find these books amusing because of the archaic computer technology, which was state of the art at the time. In this case the book was published in 1997, which isn't THAT long ago in my opinion, but light years away in terms of technological advancements. AOL with a dial up connection, pagers, and car phones, are just a few of the high tech gadgets mentioned in this book. I remember when these things were a big deal, but kids today wouldn't have the first clue as to what she is talking about. My son even refers to when I was growing up as "the olden days," because in his eyes we lived in the stone age compared to kids today.
Overall, this was another excellent addition to the series. If you enjoy murder mysteries, I would recommend giving this series a try. Just be aware that they are somewhat graphic and may not be for everyone.
In addition, the most recent body is covered with what appears to be a smallpox like infection. After further investigation, it isn't quite smallpox, but a variation of the disease that we do not have a vaccination for. When the copycat killer stats contacting Kay directly via email and eventually in a chat room, Kay is determined to lure the perpetrator into making a mistake that allows the FBI to trace the connection and find the killer.
Kay's niece Lucy, who works as an IT expert for the FBI, is once again instrumental in solving the case. I always find these books amusing because of the archaic computer technology, which was state of the art at the time. In this case the book was published in 1997, which isn't THAT long ago in my opinion, but light years away in terms of technological advancements. AOL with a dial up connection, pagers, and car phones, are just a few of the high tech gadgets mentioned in this book. I remember when these things were a big deal, but kids today wouldn't have the first clue as to what she is talking about. My son even refers to when I was growing up as "the olden days," because in his eyes we lived in the stone age compared to kids today.
Overall, this was another excellent addition to the series. If you enjoy murder mysteries, I would recommend giving this series a try. Just be aware that they are somewhat graphic and may not be for everyone.
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell provides compelling reading and a solid cast who draw you in like family. Unnatural Exposure gives us the usual puzzle/mystery to solve with a dramatic turn at the end. In fact, it was a bit too dramatic which is why I took one star off. I feel the build up to the ending character was not well developed. However, dipping into the latest exploits of the Scarpetta gang is like putting on a well worn, much loved flannel shirt. Warm, comforting with just a bit of spice to keep it interesting.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Sexual content, Murder
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is the first serial killer since Gault and at least Cornwell introduces us to a different kind and takes a microbiology plot. This one is better than the last but it does feel like the series is going down hill from here. It comes down to the trio - Kay, Lucy, and Marino and with each book I like Kay less and less - I never have a problem with disliking the main character, that can make for an interesting series, the thing is the reader is suppose to like Kay, and I did at the beginning but as the series goes on - you lose that for Kay. And then there's Lucy, why does she have to be crazier and crazier as each book goes on - In the end what saves this book is the serial killer disease plot and trying to ignore the obnoxiousness of the character.
Dr Kay Scarpetta once again saves the day. As I was reading this title in the series, I realized that although I can be annoyed by the formulaic plots, the insistence that in every book, the plot must revolve around the pathologist personally, and even the fact that Scarpetta seems to work in a perpetual late fall/ winter where extreme weather is constant, I am totally engaged by these tales.
It's Cornwell's writing that grabs me and holds me even more than the fast moving plot lines. It's not the characters as much as it is the words used to describe them. Cornwell's protagonist is nearly always troubled, worried, put upon, and impossibly busy. In the series so far, she's flown in practically every flavor of aircraft short of the Space Shuttle, met and worked with a huge variety of higher ups in a bewildering array of government agencies (having been friends with and/or colleagues with most of them), and has been the most hands on Chief Medical Examiner of an entire state that ever existed. She's scuba dived into a freezing cold, muddy river, to retrieve a body.
In this story she discovers a deadly pox that has been unleashed by a terrorist - spoiler alert the terrorist is a lone wolf colleague and friend of hers who has been saving the virus for decades, waiting for just this moment to exact her revenge. Scarpetta, typically, blames herself for not having figured it all out sooner, but we know that the damage done would have been much, much greater without her on the case. She finally realizes who it is when she as at the woman's home, helping her recover from the flu with a container of her homemade stew, which she conveniently cooks in bulk and keeps in her freezer. She's a world class cook too, of course.
This is all related in great and distinct detail (Cornwell took Hemingway's advice to heart). There is poetry in these words, images striking and vivid and new. She stays true to the long plot, of her and Mark and Lucy and Benton and perhaps most of all, Marino, who's been on the edge of stroking out for as long as we have known him. He of course is also in love with Scarpetta - she also has that certain something that nearly every man within pole vaulting distance wants to be near, and with. She's powerful, cranky, neurotic to a fault, incredibly well educated, with an unerring instinct for the truth. It's all in retrospect not believable. But as I race through each book I find I cannot wait to get to the next page and the one after that. I am fully committed, and all I can say now is that I hope the rest of the series maintains this standard of good.
It's Cornwell's writing that grabs me and holds me even more than the fast moving plot lines. It's not the characters as much as it is the words used to describe them. Cornwell's protagonist is nearly always troubled, worried, put upon, and impossibly busy. In the series so far, she's flown in practically every flavor of aircraft short of the Space Shuttle, met and worked with a huge variety of higher ups in a bewildering array of government agencies (having been friends with and/or colleagues with most of them), and has been the most hands on Chief Medical Examiner of an entire state that ever existed. She's scuba dived into a freezing cold, muddy river, to retrieve a body.
In this story she discovers a deadly pox that has been unleashed by a terrorist - spoiler alert the terrorist is a lone wolf colleague and friend of hers who has been saving the virus for decades, waiting for just this moment to exact her revenge. Scarpetta, typically, blames herself for not having figured it all out sooner, but we know that the damage done would have been much, much greater without her on the case. She finally realizes who it is when she as at the woman's home, helping her recover from the flu with a container of her homemade stew, which she conveniently cooks in bulk and keeps in her freezer. She's a world class cook too, of course.
This is all related in great and distinct detail (Cornwell took Hemingway's advice to heart). There is poetry in these words, images striking and vivid and new. She stays true to the long plot, of her and Mark and Lucy and Benton and perhaps most of all, Marino, who's been on the edge of stroking out for as long as we have known him. He of course is also in love with Scarpetta - she also has that certain something that nearly every man within pole vaulting distance wants to be near, and with. She's powerful, cranky, neurotic to a fault, incredibly well educated, with an unerring instinct for the truth. It's all in retrospect not believable. But as I race through each book I find I cannot wait to get to the next page and the one after that. I am fully committed, and all I can say now is that I hope the rest of the series maintains this standard of good.
I’m honestly not sure where this book came from. It just showed up on my shelf and now I’ve read it