Synopsis
A farmhouse destroyed by fire. A body amongst the ruins. Dr Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner and consulting pathologist for the federal law enforcement agency ATF, is called out to a farmhouse in Virginia which has been destroyed by fire. In the ruins of the house she finds a body which tells a story of a violent and grisly murder. The fire has come at the same time as another, even more incendiary horror: Carrie Grethen, a killer who nearly destroyed the lives of Scarpetta and those closest to her, has escaped from a forensic psychiatric hospital. Her whereabouts is unknown, but her ultimate destination is not, for Carrie has begun to communicate with Scarpetta, conveying her deadly – if cryptic – plans for revenge. Chillingly mesmeric in tone, labyrinthine in structure, Point of Origin is Patricia Cornwell at her most dazzling.
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Review
Patricia Cornwell's novels about Kay Scarpetta, forensic pathologist and nemesis of arrogant criminals, have long since become one of those series which admirers buy automatically, knowing and liking what they are going to get. For once, Scarpetta is learning, as well as lecturing, as she finds herself involved with a series of deaths by fire, and a killer who has learned to make her job difficult. The series' running villainess, the charming malign Carrie Grethen, once the lover of Scarpetta's niece, has escaped from custody with vengeance on her mind. Cornwell's own troubles of recent years find an echo in Carrie's media offensive--Holmes never had to cope with Moriarty writing to The Times to say that it was all a frame-up...
As always, the strong point of Patricia Cornwell's books is less the plotting than the exposition of technical details. She has the gift of fascinating with apparent trivia--just what are the metal shavings and clumps of ash caught in the victims' hair?--that turn out to lead in to the stuff of nightmares. Cornwell's reinvention of the forensic thriller combines expertise with anger at the inventiveness of human evil. --Roz Kaveney
Review
“Imitators now abound, but – pathologically speaking – nobody does it like Cornwell”
Literary Review
“the best of Cornwell’s novels”
Guardian
“stunningly staged”
Times
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Point of Origin: International Edition (Kay Scarpetta)
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Condition: acceptable. All pages and the cover are intact, but shrink wrap, dust covers, or boxed set case may be missing. Pages may include limited notes, highlighting, or minor water damage but the text is readable. Seller Inventory # COLV.0425170780.A
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Point of Origin: International Edition (Kay Scarpetta)
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Point of Origin: International Edition (Kay Scarpetta)
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Point of Origin : International Edition
Published by
Berkley Books January 1999, 1999
ISBN 10: 0425170780
ISBN 13: 9780425170786
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Point of Origin: International Edition (Kay Scarpetta)
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Condition: Gut. 398 Seiten leichte Gebrauchsspuren am Einband, Vorsatz stockfleckig, Seiten etwas gebräunt 10,5 x 17 cm Sprache: englisch 202 Gramm. Seller Inventory # 14300