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Summary: Great Book!
Review: After reading the first book in Patricia Cornwell's series Postmortem, I knew that I was going to want to read the next book. I really enjoyed the first book and knew that this one would be even better. This book kept me so interested and I never wanted to put it down. In each chapter something else exciting happened that made me want to keep reading. I really loved this book and I would recommend it to anyone that is interested in forensic science and who loves a great mystery.
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Summary: Another wonderful Novel by PC.
Review: Another wonderful novel by PC. The second of a series of excellent novels.. I am a new fan of Patrica Cornwell.
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Summary: Tension Galore
Review: I didn't think I'd ever be saying this about a police procedural with a female protagonist, but I actually enjoy the romance between Kay Scarpetta and Mark James. Cornwell is the absolute best at making her characters real.When a reclusive writer is brutally stabbed to death after being denied police protection, Dr. Scarpetta gets on the case. However is she on the trail of the killer or is the killer of the killer or is the killer on her trail? There is tension galore in this book, however, I was a little disappointed in the ending, because I didn't think we were given enough clues to figure out who the killer was. I sort of felt, you know, cheated, as I'd spent so much time thinking about the clues that didn't point to the bad guy at all, so overall I guess I have to give this book four stars. Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
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Summary: same plot trick used about 5 books later!
Review: I just read a recent Scarpatta (Black something) and happened to read this one right afterwards. In both books Scarpatta falls for the same trick: the bad guy comes to the door dressed as someone else and she lets him in! Come on now. Other than that Cornwell did a very nice job on making a readable police procedural.
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Summary: Don't miss this one
Review: Kay Scarpetta fans will thoroughly enjoy this one. In looking for a good mystery this book will satisfy that desire. A page-turner that doesn't dissappoint. Good reading!
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Summary: another Scarpetta vs the sick world story
Review: Patricia Cornwell does a very good job of uncovering some of the sickest sides of humanity. Once again, our hero, Dr Scarpetta, is not only using the fine details of physical evidence around (multiple, as usual in her stories) dead bodies, but the sick killer seems to be after her as well. With sidekick police detective Marino protecting her, will she survive? And what about old boyfriend Mark James? Can she trust him? The suspense is very good at times. My only complaint is the ending was a bit of a disappointment. It was good, but didn't meet the level of excitement building throughout most of the book, which up to that point was a solid 5-star book.
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Summary: Cornwell?s Second Novel is a Blockbuster too
Review: The savage murder of a young female novelist, who'd asked for protection from the police, because she was being watched and harassed, and didn't get it, angers Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta. She leaves no stone unturned as she tracks the killer with the expert detective work of her pal Marino. Also, as someone who lived years on a boat in the Caribbean, I can say that I really enjoyed the descriptions of the Florida Keys. It made me miss the islands. Cornwell is good and this five star novel is every bit as good as her first. Reviewed by Vesta Irene
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Summary: Scarpetta rules~
Review: This book, really went into nice character development. By the middle of it, I felt like Beryl Madison, the first victim, was a real person, and I too wanted to know how she died, why and who did it. I had a very hard time putting it down, when it was 4am, its a page turner. The evidence and clues are amazing, and they really make u think. Overall, an excellnt medical thriller mystery....And despite what anyone says, I like Scarpetta, shes not harsh or feministic. She's just perfect.
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Summary: Random Murders by a Madman
Review: This is an interesting, if flawed, novel of suspense. A budding writer is found stabbed to death in her home. The 27 cuts were done in a frenzy of hatred, or by a crazed madman. But how did he enter the home of a frightened woman? [Readers of G. K. Chesterton's "The Invisible Man" can guess.] Soon afterwards a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, who had befriended Beryl years earlier, is also found murdered outside his home. His sister, who lived with him, soon died afterwards under questionable circumstances. A strange NY lawyer seeks the missing manuscript of Beryl. Medical Examiner Scarpetta begins to investigate the background of Beryl. This takes up most of the book until the killer is caught. Cornwell describes various scenes within official agencies; she had been a police reporter, employee of the Medical Examiner office, and a volunteer police officer. She uses this experience to provide background facts for her story. My opinion is that Cornwell spent a lot of words describing Dr. Scarpetta. Cornwell describes her heroine as amoral in an amoral world (is she headed for a nervous breakdown?). The motive of the killer seems contrived, almost as an afterthought. It could have happened that way, but it seems like a deus ex machina ending. Would a real ME spend all that time to investigate Beryl's murder? There are many gay characters in this book as background. Is this some sort of message?
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Summary: Cornwell is very good at plotting
Review: This mystery involves a series of deaths that somehow all tie together -- yet it is far from clear how, as there are no clear suspects. After the first 50 pages or so, this turned into a real page-turner for me. The plot involves a young female writer who is being stalked and, at the very beginning of the story, stabbed to death in her own home. Who has been stalking her, why, and is that the killer? The writer may have been writing her autobiography, which would include things someone didn't want written. This could be a motive -- but it could be something else entirely. Eventually Scarpetta (the medical examiner/detective in Cornwell's mysteries) is herself being stalked, apparently by the same killer -- whoever that is. A missing manuscript may hold the key clue to the identity of the killer, but where is the manuscript? And why has a an old lover suddenly reappeared in Scarpetta's life and then just as suddenly disappeared? There's a lot of questions to be asked and the pace of the book is pretty quick. Now the down side: I find the editorial voice in Cornwell's mysteries annoying, and it's a shame, because the books are so well researched and plotted. But Scarpetta isn't very likable, and Cornwell clearly places great priority on physical beauty. Good people are generally attractive and thin, unattractive people are either comic, annoying, or evil. The narcissism of the author also seems to come through in her character Scarpetta, who is supposed to be wonderful and admirable, but just isn't. Scarpetta comes across as self-absorbed, arrogant, and shallow. Otherwise, this is a very well-written book.
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