Cause of Death (Kay Scarpetta)
Berkley - Berkley
Release date: 2007-01-02
Paperback
Author: Patricia Cornwell
Mystery And Suspense Fiction, Fiction, Fiction - General, Mystery/Suspense, Fiction / Suspense, General, Mystery & Detective - General
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Cause of Death (Kay Scarpetta)
Date undefinedThis book, while nowhere near as good a read as "From Potter's Field" or even "Postmortem", still shows that Cornwell's a decent writer of thrillers. Here, Scarpetta is pitted against a religious cult with plans to take over a nuclear reactor and destroy the world. It's a plot that would better serve James Bond, but Cornwell keeps the forensic science up to date. There's an annoying investigator who gets on Scarpetta's nerves (but there's one of them in nearly every book) but he's easily dispatched.
Cause of Death (Kay Scarpetta)
Date undefinedOnce Cornwell stopped writing the Scarpetta novels in first person, they have gone completely downhill. NOW if you read the earlier novels, they are GREAT. Point of Origin.. my personal favorite
Cause of Death (Kay Scarpetta)
Date undefinedPatricia Cornwell has been on my to-read list for some time now, but the last two books I've read from her Scarpetta series are making me doubt my steadfastness! This one especially goes to prove the point that Ms Cornwell doesn't have the gift of consistency, as I'd expected from such a writer, some of whose works are unarguably brilliant and remarkable, very nearly landmark. This, however, most certainly doesn't come in that category.
The story is badly written, the plot very flimsy, the premise kind of hard to believe, and as someone else has mentioned in their comments here, Ms. Scarpetta is shown to be a know-it-all in everything she comes across. IMHO, this is the most unbelievable aspect of this book, which takes away any credit that might have come to this book otherwise.
Not worth a read, unless you (expect to) have difficulty NOT reading it!
Any average reader could see through the clutter and guess the plot less than halfway into the book, and it is painful to see the usual retinue of Ms. Scarpetta - her prodigal niece Lucy, the ever-resourceful Wesley and Marino - wasted on this sub-quality, ridiculous plot!
Overall: 1 / 5
