Scarpetta – Patricia Cornwell

I’ve not read any of the Scarpetta series for a while, and picked this up for £1 in the staff booksale.

Scarpetta continues on from where Book of the Dead left off and there is just as much focus on friends and family as there is on the criminal foe. But the Kay/Marino relationship storyline isn’t that convincing, and you can guess who did it quite early on.

Amazon.co.uk link: Scarpetta – Patricia Cornwell

Book of the Dead – Patricia Cornwell

The latest Scarpetta novel, and written in a much briefer sentence style which took me a bit of getting used to. The other odd feature which takes some getting used to is Marino’s character change – whilst I don’t think it’s a sudden shift (but I’d need to have read Blow Fly/Trace/Predator more recently to be sure of the gradual build), but this is the first book where he is clearly so unpleasant and bent on destroying his relationship with Kay (and Benton and Lucy).

As one Amazon reviewer put it “Everything is so dark and bleak” – and that applies to the main characters just as much as the criminal storyline, so much so that having only finished the book a few days ago I can’t even remember the plot – just the sadness I felt for the characters I’ve followed for years.

amazon.co.uk link: Book of the Dead – Patricia Cornwell

amazon.co.uk list: Kay Scarpetta Collection (in order)

Body of Evidence – Patricia Cornwell

Another episode from early in Dr Kay Scarpetta’s career, where she still smokes and hasn’t yet settled into her relationships with Marino and Benton Wesley. What makes this novel all the wierder, for someone reading the books out of order, is the part Mark plays in the plot. In fact, not just the part, but his very existence is all rather strange, upsetting the balance between all the other, more familiar, characters.

Amazon.co.uk link: Body of Evidence – Patricia Cornwell

Amazon.co.uk list: Kay Scarpetta Collection (in order)

The Body Farm – Patricia Cornwell

I couldn’t quite believe I’d missed out reading The Body Farm – it’s one of the most well known of Patricia Cornwell’s Dr Kay Scarpetta novels, and covers the two key events in the lives of Dr Kay Scarpetta, her genius neice Lucy and FBI profiler Benton Wesley. I shall say no more, other than if you like the series and haven’t yet read The Body Farm, put it at the top of your Books To Read list!

Amazon.co.uk link: The Body Farm – Patricia Cornwell

Amazon.co.uk list: Kay Scarpetta Collection (in order)

Post-Mortem – Patricia Cornwell

Still manic at work, so a bank holiday weekend at Forty Acres offered the perfect opportunity for restocking from the second hand bookshop and the Paperback Exchange, sadly shutting down (but that allowed for plenty of purchases at rock bottom prices).

I raced through this over the bank holiday weekend at Forty Acres. The first in the Kay Scarpetta series, and a very different read from the later ones I’ve been reading more recently. Worth reading with care to see how the key characaters are introduced.

Amazon.co.uk link: Amazon link

Amazon.co.uk list: Kay Scarpetta Collection (in order)