Trace (Kay Scarpetta, 13)

Cornwell, Patricia Daniels

ISBN 10: 0142800864 ISBN 13: 9780142800867

Publisher: Penguin Group USA, 2004

Synopsis

Now freelancing from south Florida, Dr. Kay Scarpetta returns to her old haunts in Richmond, Virginia, only to encounter a host of baffling and unwelcome surprises as she investigates the death of a fourteen-year-old girl.

About this title

Review:

Break out the champagne: Patricia Cornwell has thankfully moved on from her controversial campaign to lay the Jack the Ripper murders at the door of the painter Walter Sickert, and in Trace is again raising our pulse rate by taking us into the dangerous world of consultant pathologist Dr Kay Scarpetta.

In this latest outing, Kay finds herself back in Virginia examining a curious death, that of the youthful Gilly Paulson. Joel Marcus, her successor as Chief Medical Examiner, has summoned a reluctant Scarpetta to help out, but her professional work is compromised by her unhappiness at the radical changes occurring in her old territory: Scarpetta's old morgue has been bulldozed, and she isn’t happy working with the man who took her job. Other members of the familiar Scarpetta crew make an appearance: her partner Benton Wesley and her niece Lucy Farinelli are tracking down an assailant who has nearly ended the life of one of Lucy’s colleagues. The two cases turn out to be connected (surprise!), and soon several lives are at stake.

After the recent misfires, it’s a relief to note that Patricia Cornwell is back on track, dealing comfortably with her most familiar protagonist and a plot that yokes in bomb-makers and some bizarre sexual practices. A resounding welcome back, to both Ms Cornwell and Ms Scarpetta.--Barry Forshaw

Review:

'Scarpetta ... is back with a vengeance.' (The New York Times Book Review)

'Cornwell gets her Hitchcock on ... [She] can generate willies with subtle poetic turns.' (PEOPLE)

'Fun [and] flamboyant.' (Entertainment Weekly)

'Trace is rich and satisfying, with Cornwell sprinkling a trail of tantalising bread crumbs for the Scarpetta faithful, who are always hungry for the next installment.' (Associated Press)

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Group USA
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0142800864
• ISBN 13: 9780142800867
• Binding: Audio CD