Black Notice - Kay Scarpetta, Bk 10 Author:Patricia Cornwell As winter grips Richmond, Virginia, an air of somberness pervades chief medical examiner Kay Scarpetta's world. Her beloved niece Lucy is involved in a dangerous undercover police operation in Miami, and auntie fears for her life. A tyrannical new deputy chief, Diane Bray, wants to get Kay's department under her jurisdiction. Meanwhile, ... more »back at the office, someone has tinkered with the e-mail system, stealing Kay's identity, and sending off slanderous and hurtful messages. Emotionally battered, Scarpetta fears she is going insane. Or, could it be that someone is deliberately sowing this harvest of sorrow?
Despite her personal problems, Scarpetta is still the reigning diva at the department of death. She is sent to investigate the putrefied remains of a man found inside a container ship, "eyes bulged froglike, and the scalp and beard were sloughing off with the outer layer of darkening skin." Kay finds strange, animal-like hairs on the man's clothing--the same hairs that she discovers on a murdered store clerk a few days later. In actuality, the bizarre killings extend well beyond Virginia; whoever killed the Richmond victims also butchered people in France. Kay and police captain Pete Marino are whisked off to Paris where they must collect top-secret information from a Paris morgue, and avoid becoming victims themselves.« less
Just another great book in the Scarpetta series. This would be #10 and going strong. The books has plot twists and keeps you guessing at who is the real killer until close to the end.
Patricia Cornwell is not one of my favorite thriller authors: but the forensic approach is interesting as is the international flavor. The killer is too savage, her view of the world too cynical, corrupt and I don't care for the demonic stuff.
Michelle K. reviewed Black Notice (Kay Scarpetta, Bk 10) on
Another Patricia Cornwell novel that had me hooked from the get go. So much incredible detail that sometimes you might have to put it down for a break back into reality. Then you realize sadly, that THIS is some people's unfortunate reality. I appreciate the "truth" in her stories.
I love crime mysteries, particularly forensics. But so few novels incorporate REAL forensic science. (Don't even get me started on the lame forensic TV shows!!) I love Patricia Cornwell's books because the science is real, yet the plots creep me out & keep me turning the pages. I highly suggest reading her books chronologically.
I always enjoy Patricia Cornwell's books. I loved the story line of this book and I know you will too. Just the right amount of suspence with just the right amount of romance. Enjoy!!!
As I already stated, this author uses imagery and fiction to spin tales of remarkable realism. The Kay Scarpetta character (who is a forensic doctor as well as other credits) is believable and this book is a great read for anyone who enjoys mystery thrillers.
She had been noted as an excellent researcher, giving Dr. Scarpetta a "suspension of disbelief" factor nearly equal to that of Dr, Reich's Temperance Brennan. But, I put this book down in disappointment and disbelief when Dr Scarpetta remarked that a character got his AOL software from work, because he was too cheap to pay for it.
Apparently, Ms. Cromwell was in a coma during the late 90s and early 00s, and missed the daily avalanche of AOL CDs. If she blew that, what else is she missing?? It was also becoming more soap opera, and less mystery.
I'm done w/ this series. If you like this genre, stick w/ Bones. If you like soap opera novels, this will do. I would rate it zero stars, but I have to click at least one for this to post.
I loved the first five books of the series, but they became waaay to hit or miss, Scarpetta was less likeable, and Lucy was constantly being shoved more into the series. This books for me marks the area where the books moved from being forensic/csi type thrillers into the almost James Bond like, globe trotting adventures, with vast shady criminal armies, double dealing cops, characters coming back from the dead, and more far fetched cliches. Spoiler...don't ready past here.....................How many times can Cornwell have the villians attack her hero in her own house in the last chapter??? Book 1,2,3 all ended with villian attacks in her house, the only difference was who shot the bad guy...Marino/Scarpetta/ect......and then to repeat it again after 9 books???? It's almost like a Naked Gun type of gag with a long line of thugs/villians/assassins lined up to Scarpetta door awaiting there turn while a hugh neon sign flashes "Scarpetta Lives Here! Kill her Now, while she is making pasta!" It's Cornwell's default ending to 1/3 of these novels.
I have always enjoyed her books, mostly. This one is good when she is writing about the case, but the sections where she is dialoging with herself or one of her character friends. most of those are goofy, dumb, and irrational. If Patricia had written this book in the beginning of her career she would not have one, or this book would have been different.
I hope she gets over her writing fuzziness with the rest of her books.
I love the Kay Scarpetta books, but I found this one a little harder to read. It just took longer to really get into it. In the end it was good, but not one of her best in my opinion.
dr Kay Scarpetta discovers a body in a cargo ship recently arrived from Belgium. Her Post Mortem reveals neither a cause of death or an identification. An odd tattoo takes Scarpetta on a hunt for information that leads her to Interpol.
While Lucy Farinelli goes undercover in Miami to bring down a notorious criminal cartel Dr. Kay Scarpetta and Pete Marino chase a trail that starts with a dead body in a ship in the Deep Water Terminal [Richmond] and takes them to Interpol's HQ in Lyon.
Patricia Cornwells Kay Scarpetta is a character who becomes addicting. Smart, Funny, brave, and tough she is a character who sticks with you, and you will find yourself wanting to read the whole series. Chapters are on the shorter side so the book is easier to digest.
