I'd be lying to say I did not anticipate the publishing of Cornwell's newest Kay Scarpetta novel "Scarpetta" for whatever reason. When it arrived I was surprised by it's thickness and the overall appearance of the book. I held it in my hands and got this feeling of not being disappointed this time before I even read the first sentence.

Scarpetta has a small medical examiner's office in Charleston, Carolina and is bby her now husband Benton Wesley to New York. The District Attorney Jamie Berger asks her for help with a patient who admitted himself to the forensic psychiatric unit. His name is Oscar Bane and he hasn't been charged with anything just yet. The only thing police has against him is that he was the first person to arrive at his girlfriends apartment and discovers her killed in a gruesome way.
Bane seems to be a little bit off claiming someone is following him, trying to steal his thoughts and mind and the only person who is allowed to examine his wounds is Dr. Scarpetta who finds herself in a huge dilemma:
For one thing she isn't allowed to break her patient/physician confidentiality as long as Bane hasn't been charged and for the other thing, she learns that Benton after Marino's sudden disappearance, took care of him, helped him with getting treatment for his alcoholism and other issues. She also learns that Marino now directly works for the District Attorney's office and is directly involved in the murder of Oscar Bane's girlfriend.
The next days reveal more confusion, more misleading evidence and more death.

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Initially I've detached myself from expecting the Scarpetta we know from the early books because I think this might have been the downfall in Cornwell's past few publishing's. So I went into reading the book without the expectancy of the character Scarpetta. What I got was a mixture of Scarpetta, Lucy Farinelli and Marino and I actually liked the book very much.
In the beginning I feared we might again get too much of Benton and Scarpetta's relationship issues but during the plots development we completely got away from that and learn about how each of the "Scarpetta Team" deals with what happened in the previous novel between Marino and Scarpetta and that Scarpetta partly takes responsibility for it. All this happens between investigations, not too much at once but bit by bit so that it doesn't get annoying and gives closure to the The Book Of The Dead novel.

I think it was fantastic to get back a piece of what I missed in previous novels and a new direction. In the end they all redeem themselves in one or another way. Not only speaking of the characters here.
So would I recommend this book to Scarpetta fans ? Definitely and especially when the disappointment about the last novels was/is still there.

Twist and turns kept me reading and wanting more Cornwell for the first time in years and I appreciate the work for detail the author put into this work. Speaking for myself, I couldn't put it down and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

She's back! If you happened to read my review of Cornwell's "Book of the Dead", you'll know that I hated it. But "Scarpetta", the 16th book in Cornwell's series about Kay Scarpetta, forensic pathologist, is far and away so superior to her last entry in the series...well, I'm almost speechless.

There is a great mystery. There is character development that doesn't remind one of a nightmare or a bad LSD trip or something. I was so involved in the storyline, and so relieved to have Benton, Marino, Lucy and Scarpetta acting normally again that I probably gave this book a higher rating than I would have had I never read "Book of the Dead."

If you have been disillusioned with Cornwell and Scarpetta...try this one. See if you don't feel as though Cornwell is back in the game.

This is the Patricia Cornwell I remember.....

After the first 150-200 pages the book finally kicked into high gear and was a real Kay Scarpetta book that turned out really good with all the key characters present and/or accounted for!

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I liked the book very much and I thought it moved along quiet well. The only thing that surprised me was not a love reaction with Benton and Scarpetts. Didn't like the way they acted with each other, it was like they weren't interested in each other. When all is said and done I still like anything Patricia Cornwell writew.

I love Patricia Cornwell and have read every Scarpetta book. This one does not disappoint. The last book was upsetting for me becuase the main group or "family" of charactors were broken up and imploded. Cornwell has brought them back together again in this book and focused on the charactor development again. But she doesn't leave out the details and technical aspects of the investigation.

I didn't think this book has been as good as others written by Patricia Cornwell

Really enjoyed the book. Loved that the ending wasn't obvious as so many times it is.

Pretty good book. Not the best of the series, but after a few slow chapters, it does grab your attention.

Another good Patricia Cornwell book. Scarpetta at her best...

Good mystery story. Good read.

great continuation of scarpetta series

not her best. I haven't liked the last few of her books.

I had all but given up on her books but thought I would give this one a chance. She needs to go back to her original style. This book was a dissappointment. I won't read her again unless I know she writes like she used to.

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