Book of the Dead (Kay Scarpetta Series #15) by Patricia Cornwell

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In mortuary parlance, the "book of the dead" is the morgue ledger; for most of us, nothing more than a grim accounting of the recently deceased. For forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta, though, these morbid sign-out sheets are questions waiting to be answered. As she sets up her new South Carolina private practice, she realizes that these questions seem to be piling up at any alarming rate, leading her to suspect that a serial killer or killers are on the loose. A first-rate forensic thriller.

From the Publisher

Kay Scarpetta is starting over with a unique private forensic pathology practice in Charleston, South Carolina. And the death of a sixteen-year-old tennis star will usher in a string of murders more baffling—and terrifying—than any that have come before.

Publishers Weekly

Bestseller Cornwell's 15th novel to feature Dr. Kay Scarpetta (after 2005's Predator) delivers her trademark grisly crime scenes, but lacks the coherence and emotional resonance of earlier books. Soon after relocating to Charleston, S.C., to launch a private forensics lab, Scarpetta is asked to consult on the murder of U.S. tennis star Drew Martin, whose mutilated body was found in Rome. Contradictory evidence leaves Scarpetta, the Italian carabinieri and Scarpetta's lover, forensic psychologist Benton Wesley, stumped. But when she discovers unsettling connections between Martin's murder, the body of an unidentified South Carolina boy and her old nemesis, the maniacal psychiatrist Dr. Marilyn Self, Scarpetta encounters a killer as deadly as any she's ever faced. With her recent switch from first- to third-person narration, Cornwell loses what once made her series so compelling: a window into the mind of a strong, intelligent woman holding her own in a profession dominated by men. Here, the abrupt shifts in point of view slow the momentum, and the reader flounders in excessive forensic minutiae. (Oct.)

Steve Forbes - Forbes Magazine

Charles Dickens would be impressed with both the characters in this book and their names, e.g. Dr. Marilyn Self, a malignantly conniving, deranged TV psychiatrist. The tale's heroine, Kay Scarpetta, is a private forensic pathologist grappling with the murder of a famous teenage American tennis champ in Rome. At the same time, she has to deal with the murder of a malnourished and badly beaten child. Scarpetta's relations with her colleagues, not to mention those with her significant other, are tumultuous and tangled. All these characters have varying levels of unredeeming traits. What a walloping, riveting mix of mystery, adventure and psychology. Author Cornwell certainly is skilled at dissecting the not always attractive innards of human nature. (25 Feb 2008)

Library Journal

This just in: Kay Scarpetta seeks peace of mind by moving to Charleston, SC, and opening a forensic pathology practice. And then the sabotage begins. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Joyce Kessel - Library Journal

This 15th book in the Kay Scarpetta series focuses more on the relationships of the familiar characters than the mystery. Nemesis Dr. Marilyn Self is back to plague Kay as her new private forensic pathology practice tries to find the links among murders in Italy and Charleston, SC. There are many other hurdles and some surprises along with some inevitabilities. The new locale and a cliffhanger ending show the series is still worth following. Narrator Kate Reading is as familiar to Scarpetta fans as the characters are. Recommended. [Cornwell's Postmortem is the only novel to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity awards in a single year; Book of the Dead is also available as downloadable audio from Audible.com.-Ed.]

Kirkus Reviews

Pioneering pathologist Kay Scarpetta (Trace, 2004, etc.) goes up against a wraithlike killer whose self-appointed mission is to "relieve others of their suffering."Practice, practice, practice. If only 16-year-old South Carolina tennis phenom Drew Martin had stuck to the court instead of going off to Rome to party, her tortured corpse wouldn't be baffling the Italian authorities, headed inexplicably by medico legale Capt. Ottorino Poma, and the International Investigative Response team, which includes both Scarpetta and her lover, forensic psychologist Benton Wesley. But the young woman's murder and the gruesome forensic riddles it poses are something of a sideshow to the main event: the obligatory maundering of the continuing cast. Wesley still won't leave Boston for the woman he tepidly insists he loves. Scarpetta's niece, computer whiz Lucy Farinelli, continues to be jealously protective of her aunt. Scarpetta's investigator, Pete Marino, is so besotted by the trailer-trash pickup who's pushing his buttons that he does some terrible things. And Scarpetta herself is threatened by every misfit in the known universe, from a disgruntled mortician to oracular TV shrink Marilyn Self. Cornwell's trademark forensics have long since been matched by Karin Slaughter and CSI. What's most distinctive about this venerable franchise is the kitchen-sink plotting; the soap-opera melodrama that prevents any given volume from coming to a satisfying end; and the emphasis on titanic battles between Scarpetta and a series of Antichrists. Proceed at your own risk.

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