A review by latas
Red Mist: Scarpetta (Book 19) by Patricia Cornwell

2.0

I read lot of glowing reviews about Patricia Cornwell. I guess I picked up the wrong book to start with. I didn't like it and this will be my last book by Cornwell.

The writing is so bad, I am sure I will remember this book for a long time. The narration in the first person was irritating, there was lot of talking and very less action. She actually describes in so many words, how she is securing samples from the trash can as if the other person she is talking to (Chang) is not in the same room. She says "it goes in one bag, which I'll wrap around and tape into a tight little package, then that goes into a second bag, and I'll do exactly the same thing, and finally a third bag, again the same thing".

She was supposed to be a smart detective, but I found her judgmental - she was always quick to jump into conclusions. I have no clue how she linked all the murders to a terrorist plot and got the military involved. No, that was not a spoiler, the killer was someone else.

The most disturbing part was when she goes for elaborate shopping for grocery and kitchen pots and pans just after coming from 2 death scenes and starts cooking without even taking a shower! I don't think it was implied as the author goes to great lengths describing mundane things like the grocery shopping, I am sure if Kay had taken a shower, she would have described that too.

Adding to my growing list of annoying heroines - Kay Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell, Carol Jordan by Val McDermid, Maura Isles by Tess Geritsen, Erika Foster by Robert Bryndza, Temperance Brennan by Kathy Reichs, Claire Randall by Diana Gabaldon.