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Kay Scarpetta #18
Port Mortuary
Kay Scarpetta has been training at the Dover Port Mortuary, mastering the art of 'virtual autopsy' - a groundbreaking procedure that could soon revolutionise forensic science. And it is not too long before these new skills urgently need to be put into practice. A young man drops dead, apparently from a heart condition, eerily close to Scarpetta's home. But when his body is examined the next morning, there are stunning indications that he may have been alive when he was zipped inside a pouch and locked in the cooler.
When the revolutionary 3D radiology scans reveal more shocking details about internal injuries unlike any Scarpetta has ever seen, she realizes that this is a case of murder - and that she is fighting a cunning and uniquely cruel enemy. Now it is a race against time to discover who and why before more people die. But that time is running out . . .
489 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 30, 2010
2384 people are currently reading
12673 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Cornwell
201 books19.9k followersPatricia Cornwell sold her first novel, Postmortem, in 1990 while working as a computer analyst at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. Postmortem, was the first bona fide forensic thriller. It paved the way for an explosion of entertainment featuring in all things forensic across film, television and literature.
Postmortem would go on to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity awards as well as the French Prix du Roman d’Aventure prize – the first book ever to claim all these distinctions in a single year. To date, Cornwell’s books have sold some 100 million copies in thirty-six languages in over 120 countries. She’s authored twenty-nine New York Times bestsellers.
Patricia’s novels center primarily on medical examiner Kay Scarpetta along with her tech-savvy niece Lucy and fellow investigator Pete Marino. Celebrating 25 years, these characters have grown into an international phenomenon, winning Cornwell the Sherlock Award for best detective created by an American author, the Gold Dagger Award, the RBA Thriller Award, and the Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters for her contributions to literary and artistic development.
Fox 2000 bought the rights to Kay Scarpetta. Working with producer Liz Friedman, Marvel’s Jessica Jones and fellow Marvel EP and Twilight Saga scribe Melissa Rosenberg to develop the film and find Scarpetta a home on the big screen.
After earning her degree in English from Davidson College in 1979, she began working at the Charlotte Observer.
Cornwell received widespread attention and praise for her series of articles on prostitution and crime in downtown Charlotte. From the Charlotte Observer, Cornwell moved to a job with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia – a post she would later bestow upon the fictional Kay Scarpetta.
When not writing from her Boston home, Patricia tirelessly researches cutting-edge forensic technologies to include in her work. Her interests span outside the literary: Patricia co-founded of the Conservation Scientist Chair at the Harvard University Art Museums. She appears as a forensic consultant on CNN and serves as a member of Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital’s National Council, where she advocates for psychiatric research. She’s helped fund the ICU at Cornell’s Animal Hospital, the scientific study of a Confederate submarine, the archaeological excavation of Jamestown, and a variety of law enforcement charities. Patricia is also committed to
funding scholarships and literacy programs. Her advice to aspiring authors: “Start writing. And don’t take no for an answer.”
Social and Digital Outlets
http://www.patriciacornwell.com
https://www.facebook.com/patricia.cor...
https://twitter.com/1pcornwell
https://instagram.com/1pcornwell/
Other areas of expertise & interests
Forensics | Forensic Technologies | Ballistics | Weapons | Explosives | Pathology & Autopsies | Crime | Historical and Unsolved Criminal Cases | Jack The Ripper | Helicopter Piloting | Suba Diving | Archaeological Excavation Experience |
Postmortem would go on to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity awards as well as the French Prix du Roman d’Aventure prize – the first book ever to claim all these distinctions in a single year. To date, Cornwell’s books have sold some 100 million copies in thirty-six languages in over 120 countries. She’s authored twenty-nine New York Times bestsellers.
Patricia’s novels center primarily on medical examiner Kay Scarpetta along with her tech-savvy niece Lucy and fellow investigator Pete Marino. Celebrating 25 years, these characters have grown into an international phenomenon, winning Cornwell the Sherlock Award for best detective created by an American author, the Gold Dagger Award, the RBA Thriller Award, and the Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters for her contributions to literary and artistic development.
Fox 2000 bought the rights to Kay Scarpetta. Working with producer Liz Friedman, Marvel’s Jessica Jones and fellow Marvel EP and Twilight Saga scribe Melissa Rosenberg to develop the film and find Scarpetta a home on the big screen.
After earning her degree in English from Davidson College in 1979, she began working at the Charlotte Observer.
Cornwell received widespread attention and praise for her series of articles on prostitution and crime in downtown Charlotte. From the Charlotte Observer, Cornwell moved to a job with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia – a post she would later bestow upon the fictional Kay Scarpetta.
When not writing from her Boston home, Patricia tirelessly researches cutting-edge forensic technologies to include in her work. Her interests span outside the literary: Patricia co-founded of the Conservation Scientist Chair at the Harvard University Art Museums. She appears as a forensic consultant on CNN and serves as a member of Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital’s National Council, where she advocates for psychiatric research. She’s helped fund the ICU at Cornell’s Animal Hospital, the scientific study of a Confederate submarine, the archaeological excavation of Jamestown, and a variety of law enforcement charities. Patricia is also committed to
funding scholarships and literacy programs. Her advice to aspiring authors: “Start writing. And don’t take no for an answer.”
Social and Digital Outlets
http://www.patriciacornwell.com
https://www.facebook.com/patricia.cor...
https://twitter.com/1pcornwell
https://instagram.com/1pcornwell/
Other areas of expertise & interests
Forensics | Forensic Technologies | Ballistics | Weapons | Explosives | Pathology & Autopsies | Crime | Historical and Unsolved Criminal Cases | Jack The Ripper | Helicopter Piloting | Suba Diving | Archaeological Excavation Experience |
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,937 reviews
March 27, 2011
Every time I finish a Kay Scarpetta mystery, I tell myself I'm done with the series, and then the next book comes out and I have to read it. This book is really no exception to the disappointment I've felt with every one of her books since "Point of Origin." I was glad to see Cornwell had returned to first person narrative, which gave the books much of their original appeal.
But what originally made the character unique and compelling....all of it is gone. The series has become about how everything in the world revolves around Kay Scarpetta, as though she is the lone force for good in the world that every evil person, including the people she loves, is out to destroy. Old characters are rewritten to be completely different, with no redeeming qualities. There is no consistency to the story line, and everything would have been better had she just left Scarpetta in Richmond, working as the chief medical examiner. But no, she has to make her an FBI consultant, a super detective, and now, in this book, suddenly we find out that Scarpetta paid her way through college by somehow being in the army for six months, with a secret mission to South Africa once upon a time? Give me a break!
Gone are the weirdly fascinating descriptions of autopsies, the suspenseful weaving of plot, the reverential descriptions of Scarpetta's therapeutic Italian cooking. For the past six or seven books, the plots have been barely plausible, with endings that all felt like table scraps tossed in a bowl just to tidy things up. Scarpetta went from being a physician who cared for the dead to being an icy and persecuted super woman, understood by nobody, with a fascination with computers, helicopters and undercover law enforcement.
Frankly, I tend to think Cornwell has farmed out her writing to a legion of unimaginative and unskilled hacks - the book was full of grammatical errors, misspellings, and unusually ham-fisted writing. Time to hang up this character once and for all. What used to be one of the best fictional mystery characters has turned into a caricature. Very sad.
3/9
But what originally made the character unique and compelling....all of it is gone. The series has become about how everything in the world revolves around Kay Scarpetta, as though she is the lone force for good in the world that every evil person, including the people she loves, is out to destroy. Old characters are rewritten to be completely different, with no redeeming qualities. There is no consistency to the story line, and everything would have been better had she just left Scarpetta in Richmond, working as the chief medical examiner. But no, she has to make her an FBI consultant, a super detective, and now, in this book, suddenly we find out that Scarpetta paid her way through college by somehow being in the army for six months, with a secret mission to South Africa once upon a time? Give me a break!
Gone are the weirdly fascinating descriptions of autopsies, the suspenseful weaving of plot, the reverential descriptions of Scarpetta's therapeutic Italian cooking. For the past six or seven books, the plots have been barely plausible, with endings that all felt like table scraps tossed in a bowl just to tidy things up. Scarpetta went from being a physician who cared for the dead to being an icy and persecuted super woman, understood by nobody, with a fascination with computers, helicopters and undercover law enforcement.
Frankly, I tend to think Cornwell has farmed out her writing to a legion of unimaginative and unskilled hacks - the book was full of grammatical errors, misspellings, and unusually ham-fisted writing. Time to hang up this character once and for all. What used to be one of the best fictional mystery characters has turned into a caricature. Very sad.
3/9
April 30, 2023
Book Review
3 of 5 stars to Port Mortuary, the 18th book in the Kay Scarpetta thriller series, written by Patricia Cornwell and published in 2010. This was the last Scarpetta book I read, as I then took a hiatus I've yet to come back from. I thought this was a decent book in the series, but it had some low points and it had some high points. The series seems to go thru a bit of an identity crisis when it tries to change a little direction, and this one, I am hopeful it is back on track. I'm not sure yet tho. We're back to first person narration again, so we hear Scarpetta's thoughts and voice, which is good. But it's gone super-detail oriented on technology to the point where it's less about the mystery and more about the information dump. We also have less of the supporting characters, and when we do have them, their idiosyncrasies are on full blast -- too high tho. I think we need a reboot here, with some new characters and a change of atmosphere. I'm going to pick up the next book in the series soon to see if it changes or not, then I'll decide if I've given up or am still in it for the long haul
About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.
3 of 5 stars to Port Mortuary, the 18th book in the Kay Scarpetta thriller series, written by Patricia Cornwell and published in 2010. This was the last Scarpetta book I read, as I then took a hiatus I've yet to come back from. I thought this was a decent book in the series, but it had some low points and it had some high points. The series seems to go thru a bit of an identity crisis when it tries to change a little direction, and this one, I am hopeful it is back on track. I'm not sure yet tho. We're back to first person narration again, so we hear Scarpetta's thoughts and voice, which is good. But it's gone super-detail oriented on technology to the point where it's less about the mystery and more about the information dump. We also have less of the supporting characters, and when we do have them, their idiosyncrasies are on full blast -- too high tho. I think we need a reboot here, with some new characters and a change of atmosphere. I'm going to pick up the next book in the series soon to see if it changes or not, then I'll decide if I've given up or am still in it for the long haul
About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.
December 24, 2010
What happened? Patricia Cornwall seemed to have rebounded with most recent Kay Scarpetta books, after a few misfires but she proves her inconsistency again with Port Mortuary. Is it that she is using a ghostwriter? A different ghostwriter? No ghostwriter? Whatever the reason, the usually exciting adventures of Kay, Benton, Lucy and Marino hit a brick wall with Port Mortuary. I rarely bail out on a book yet half way through I couldn't bear to be bored to tears any longer.
Everything in Port Mortuary seems to have been assigned an acronym which is repeatedly explained. Okay, we get it. Additionally, the story progresses sooooo slowly through dialogue instead of the exciting narrative we expect from Cornwall. Yet the conversations are unnatural and stilted and are not true to the characters we have come to know over the years.
It is preposterous that Wesley Benton would, in casual conversation with his wife, Kay, remind her in detail (page after page after page!) about what she did recently or personal issues she has with one of her associates. Perhaps this would work if the usually brilliant Dr. Scarpetta had amnesia, or had suddenly suffered a mental impairment so he needed to speak to her as if she were mentally incompetent. However. she has not, is not and, in fact, has a whole new military background. Ha! You think you know someone after 20 years...
Even if you are a huge fan, pass on this one. If you need a Scarpetta fix, go back and re-read one of her earlier novels, like Black Notice. Or start reading Jonathan Kellerman's "Alex Delaware" series or Lee Child's "Jack Reacher" series. If you must, read the back of the cereal boxes you have in the pantry. Anything is better than this.
Someone needs to call TOD on this series.
I'm ready to call TOD (time of death) on this series.
Everything in Port Mortuary seems to have been assigned an acronym which is repeatedly explained. Okay, we get it. Additionally, the story progresses sooooo slowly through dialogue instead of the exciting narrative we expect from Cornwall. Yet the conversations are unnatural and stilted and are not true to the characters we have come to know over the years.
It is preposterous that Wesley Benton would, in casual conversation with his wife, Kay, remind her in detail (page after page after page!) about what she did recently or personal issues she has with one of her associates. Perhaps this would work if the usually brilliant Dr. Scarpetta had amnesia, or had suddenly suffered a mental impairment so he needed to speak to her as if she were mentally incompetent. However. she has not, is not and, in fact, has a whole new military background. Ha! You think you know someone after 20 years...
Even if you are a huge fan, pass on this one. If you need a Scarpetta fix, go back and re-read one of her earlier novels, like Black Notice. Or start reading Jonathan Kellerman's "Alex Delaware" series or Lee Child's "Jack Reacher" series. If you must, read the back of the cereal boxes you have in the pantry. Anything is better than this.
Someone needs to call TOD on this series.
I'm ready to call TOD (time of death) on this series.
June 1, 2016
I can't even finish this. I'm officially done with the series. This current batch of books I thought I could get past, but this latest one is just too much. We have:
Characters' character assassination -
Marino's just an idiot, no redeemable qualities.
Scarpetta's a whiner, NOT the awesome smart doctor from the beginning of the series.
Lucy's just a bitch, NEVER happy. At some point, you gotta get over your mom treating you like shit as a child and find your own happiness.
Benton's just an after-thought and also deeply depressed. Might as well have left him 'dead'. There's no reason to bring him back to Kay if they hate each other so much.
Scarpetta's new military past -
Um, what? This is where I just find it devolving to ridiculousness. You cannot introduce something of this magnitude that would've shaped a lot of Scarpetta's character and motivations in the past in the EIGHTEENTH book.
Technical mumbo-jumbo -
I used to love how detailed and careful Scarpetta would be when she was working with a body. She had such respect for the whole person, and could also tell you so much about their life and death from little clues. It was fascinating.
Now? We get none of that. I can't remember the last time she really got in and worked with a body. It's all about computers and high-tech gadgets, HELICOPTERS. Does Cornwell have a fetish? I only got about 40 pages in, and I found myself skimming the descriptions of the helicopter, the way it flew, the weather patterns, Lucy's piloting skills, blah, blah. How about the thing just gets you back to Boston, so you can focus on the case? Lucy and Kay could have had their conversation anywhere else about the dead guy instead of in the cockpit. And MORT. Don't even get me started. I preferred the books when Scarpetta was stuck in the dark ages with floppy disks and no wireless connections.
Name Dropping -
I think I saw the words 'iPad' and 'iPhone' about fifteen times in 20 pages. Did Cornwell get a corporate sponsor for her book? I don't care what type of phone she has, or that she was 'fast-forwarding/rewinding/looking at' an 'iPad'. Just say computer, tablet, WHATever.
So that's it. It was a good run for awhile, and when I revisit Kay, I'll just pretend that the books stopped before Benton died. That's more then enough reading material.
Characters' character assassination -
Marino's just an idiot, no redeemable qualities.
Scarpetta's a whiner, NOT the awesome smart doctor from the beginning of the series.
Lucy's just a bitch, NEVER happy. At some point, you gotta get over your mom treating you like shit as a child and find your own happiness.
Benton's just an after-thought and also deeply depressed. Might as well have left him 'dead'. There's no reason to bring him back to Kay if they hate each other so much.
Scarpetta's new military past -
Um, what? This is where I just find it devolving to ridiculousness. You cannot introduce something of this magnitude that would've shaped a lot of Scarpetta's character and motivations in the past in the EIGHTEENTH book.
Technical mumbo-jumbo -
I used to love how detailed and careful Scarpetta would be when she was working with a body. She had such respect for the whole person, and could also tell you so much about their life and death from little clues. It was fascinating.
Now? We get none of that. I can't remember the last time she really got in and worked with a body. It's all about computers and high-tech gadgets, HELICOPTERS. Does Cornwell have a fetish? I only got about 40 pages in, and I found myself skimming the descriptions of the helicopter, the way it flew, the weather patterns, Lucy's piloting skills, blah, blah. How about the thing just gets you back to Boston, so you can focus on the case? Lucy and Kay could have had their conversation anywhere else about the dead guy instead of in the cockpit. And MORT. Don't even get me started. I preferred the books when Scarpetta was stuck in the dark ages with floppy disks and no wireless connections.
Name Dropping -
I think I saw the words 'iPad' and 'iPhone' about fifteen times in 20 pages. Did Cornwell get a corporate sponsor for her book? I don't care what type of phone she has, or that she was 'fast-forwarding/rewinding/looking at' an 'iPad'. Just say computer, tablet, WHATever.
So that's it. It was a good run for awhile, and when I revisit Kay, I'll just pretend that the books stopped before Benton died. That's more then enough reading material.
March 5, 2011
I can't do it anymore. I am sorry Ms. Cornwell, but your characters are becoming harder and harder to empathize with and your storylines too convoluted. Scarpetta used to be such a strong character, now everyone is pushing her around - Benton, her husband is unwilling to share any information with her, and after 300 pages the only outward sign of love between is a glance. Not even a hug when Scarpetta arrives from a 6 month sojourn away. Lucy is becoming impossible to like and appears to be growing ever more paranoid and psychotic. Marino keeps messing up, in every novel and Scarpetta just keep forgiving him and blaming herself. Fielding keeps stabbing her in the back and she keeps rehiring him. Almost everyone is in mutiny at CPC. And now Briggs is in the picture and we are introduced to a secret horror story from the 1980"s in Africa.
Now we are expected to believe that Lucy just happened to see a broken fly's wing on a jacket which everyone else missed. And that the sculpture in the murdered man's home just happens to be a Mort which just happens to be something that Scarpetta had testified against in the past. I had to stop at page 308 because I just couldn't read on.
I often wonder if writing reflects the author's own happiness. This book is dark and depressing. If something is missing in Cornwell's own life, I sincerely hope she recovers soon.
Now we are expected to believe that Lucy just happened to see a broken fly's wing on a jacket which everyone else missed. And that the sculpture in the murdered man's home just happens to be a Mort which just happens to be something that Scarpetta had testified against in the past. I had to stop at page 308 because I just couldn't read on.
I often wonder if writing reflects the author's own happiness. This book is dark and depressing. If something is missing in Cornwell's own life, I sincerely hope she recovers soon.
April 20, 2024
Re read April 2024
Story 4 stars**
Audio 3.5 stars**
Narrator Kate Burton
Story 4 stars**
Audio 3.5 stars**
Narrator Kate Burton
April 5, 2011
She's another thriller-crime-mystery writer on my junk reads list, but I don't knock myself out seeking her books. If I see one at the library, I'll usually get around to reading it. Here's my question. Cornwell has created this highly successful forensics expert, married to an equally successful man, with an equally successful niece, and they ARE ALL FULL OF PISS AND VINEGAR AND UNHAPPY. In this book, Scarpissah gets angry if someone is at her desk, leaves scalpels in disarray, starts working a crime scene before her. Her husband is pissy about his past, her past, criminal's pasts. Her niece, was born pissed off. You want to say, "I'll give you something to be angry about." What do you want? A health issue? Unemployment? Foreclosure?
If YOU want to get angry--google Cornwell latest living quarters in Boston. You'll never buy another book. Trust me.
http://realestalker.blogspot.com/2010...
If YOU want to get angry--google Cornwell latest living quarters in Boston. You'll never buy another book. Trust me.
http://realestalker.blogspot.com/2010...
January 29, 2012
After discovering and devouring Patricia Cornwell's "Postmortem" (now 20 years ago), my family and I have been huge fans of the Kay Scarpetta novels. Over the years, we eagerly awaited the release of Ms. Cornwell's next novel, always confident that it would surpass her last. Until something changed and Ms. Cornwell forgot how to tell an interesting story. Instead of flying effortlessly through her books, I now find myself slogging through them, falling asleep over them, yawning through endless pages of dreary detail and introspective angst. I keep hoping that the books will get better, but they don't. I gave up halfway through "The Scarpetta Factor" (2009), but actually read all of "Port Mortuary" (2010). Like "The Scarpetta Factor," Ms. Cornwell's latest offering is a self-indulgent bore. This book features mysteries within mysteries that are not revealed until the bitter end. By then, I didn't care. There's no suspense, no thrill, no passion. The characters that formerly had been drawn with such precision and care are now lackluster at best. Throughout the book, Kay can't figure out how to ask a direct question nor get a direct answer from anyone, including but not limited to Benton (her husband) and Lucy (her niece). That Kay seemingly has so little self-esteem that she would accept everyone's lack of forthright responses is completely contrary to her former strong, confident and capable self. After finally (FINALLY!) reaching the end of "Port Mortuary," I was disconcerted by the complete change of voice in the last few pages of the book. It's almost as though Ms. Cornwell's editor compelled her to tack on a page or two to make it appear that Kay has a soul after all. Ms. Cornwell, please bring back the Kay Scarpetta we used to know and love!
August 27, 2011
I read all Kay Scarpetta books, I used to be a real addict when I was younger. I loved all the books up till The Last Precinct, which I thought was the final book of the series!
A few years later I discovered that the series still continues and I have read all books since, but only because of a weird sort of sentiment... Every time I finish another I tell myself I should stop reading them because they disappoint me every time, but by the time a new one comes out I forget and I read it anyway.
One the main things that disappoints me every time are the big changes in Scarpetta's world with every book, there is no consistency, she moves from city to city and job to job but the is always oh so important (but still complains a lot and is very selfinvolved). And I have the feeling that the history of Kay how we as readers used to know it keeps changing a little at the time. To me Kay is no longer attractive :( and it's a little boring that in most book she turns out to be the target and is saved by someone.
One good thing about the book was the first person narrative (which has been gone since The Last Precinct) what made me like the book a little better.
My advice to everybody who only read this book of the Scarpetta series or is thinking about reading it: Please read the first 11 books of the series instead! They are great!
A few years later I discovered that the series still continues and I have read all books since, but only because of a weird sort of sentiment... Every time I finish another I tell myself I should stop reading them because they disappoint me every time, but by the time a new one comes out I forget and I read it anyway.
One the main things that disappoints me every time are the big changes in Scarpetta's world with every book, there is no consistency, she moves from city to city and job to job but the is always oh so important (but still complains a lot and is very selfinvolved). And I have the feeling that the history of Kay how we as readers used to know it keeps changing a little at the time. To me Kay is no longer attractive :( and it's a little boring that in most book she turns out to be the target and is saved by someone.
One good thing about the book was the first person narrative (which has been gone since The Last Precinct) what made me like the book a little better.
My advice to everybody who only read this book of the Scarpetta series or is thinking about reading it: Please read the first 11 books of the series instead! They are great!
June 1, 2025
the first 100 pages were quite slow the last 100 pages I speed through with all the twists. great story. I would be interested to read another one based on the killers point of view.
September 21, 2011
Ok, now I remember why I stopped reading the Scarpetta novels several years ago: 1) Scarpetta is annoying. 2) Marino is annoying. 3) Benton is annoying. 4) Lucy is REALLY annoying. Haven't read one for about 3 or 4 years, so I was a little bit out of the loop on what Kay's life is like now, but actually, it's same old, same old. But honestly, do any more annoyingly one-dimensional, cardboard, and totally sterotypical characters exist in any other book series? DO ANY OF THESE PEOPLE EVER HAVE A REAL CONVERSATION? DO THEY EVER SMILE? DO THEY EVER HAVE NORMAL RELATIONSHIPS? DO THEY EVER DO ANYTHING REMOTELY OUT OF CHARACTER OR SURPRISING? The answer, dear reader, is no, never, EVER. Oh, unless you count the time that Kay, knowing that a crazed killer is on the loose and possibly after her, forgets herself (and so does her hyper-vigilant-on-the-verge-of-obsessive-former-FBI agent husband) and goes into THE GARAGE WITH NO LIGHT AND A BROKEN WINDOW. Really, Ms. Cornwell? Your faithful readers deserve better, and frankly, so does Kay Scarpetta. I think it's well past time for a group therapy session for all of these characters, or maybe just the morgue.
April 18, 2022
SPOILERS AHEAD
It’s been a while since I read a Scarpetta novel. I enjoyed the second half more than the first half. The story revolves around Kay rushing back to investigate a possible death of someone who might not have been dead when put into her morgue freezer. She has been working several months with the army while her assistant Fielding has mismanaged her morgue.
The first bit had way too much about helicopters and surprisingly Lucy and Marino are not featured as in previous novels. The man murdered while walking his greyhound Sock is linked to Fielding as are two other victims. Nanobots, the technology of death and scanning bodies with new technology was interesting.
In the end Fielding is exonerated and his illegitimate daughter Dawn turns out to be a complete psycho with questionable hygiene standards. Kay survives the attempt on her life although I am unsure why Dawn tries to kill her. To get Sock back? Might have to read the sequel and see what happens with Dawn and of course Sock.
It’s been a while since I read a Scarpetta novel. I enjoyed the second half more than the first half. The story revolves around Kay rushing back to investigate a possible death of someone who might not have been dead when put into her morgue freezer. She has been working several months with the army while her assistant Fielding has mismanaged her morgue.
The first bit had way too much about helicopters and surprisingly Lucy and Marino are not featured as in previous novels. The man murdered while walking his greyhound Sock is linked to Fielding as are two other victims. Nanobots, the technology of death and scanning bodies with new technology was interesting.
In the end Fielding is exonerated and his illegitimate daughter Dawn turns out to be a complete psycho with questionable hygiene standards. Kay survives the attempt on her life although I am unsure why Dawn tries to kill her. To get Sock back? Might have to read the sequel and see what happens with Dawn and of course Sock.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2011
The latest in quite a long series of Kay Scarpetta books. For me Patricia Cornwell has lost her way with the series. There seems to be much more concentration on the relationships of the characters than in the plot, although this one is certainly better then the previous two so maybe she's finding her touch again.
It was still an enjoyable read but I would certainly recommend some of the early books to get a real flavour of what Scarpetts is about.
This one sees her returning to Richmond from Port Dover where she has spent some 18 months on secondment. In that time her number 2 has gone somewhat off the rails. Scarpetta seems to be wandering round as an extra and never really gets to the centre of things.
Please Ms Cornwell, can you go back to letting Kay solve a crime by using the latest technology and give up the idea that people read crime thrillers because they want to know whether she is talking to her husband or if he is keeping secrets from her.
MUST TRY HARDER!
It was still an enjoyable read but I would certainly recommend some of the early books to get a real flavour of what Scarpetts is about.
This one sees her returning to Richmond from Port Dover where she has spent some 18 months on secondment. In that time her number 2 has gone somewhat off the rails. Scarpetta seems to be wandering round as an extra and never really gets to the centre of things.
Please Ms Cornwell, can you go back to letting Kay solve a crime by using the latest technology and give up the idea that people read crime thrillers because they want to know whether she is talking to her husband or if he is keeping secrets from her.
MUST TRY HARDER!
June 4, 2018
I've always enjoyed Kay Scarpetta, and this book didn't disappoint. However, quite a bit of this was inside Scarpetta's head--her worries, insecurities, etc. I remember the others having a little more action. Consequently, while I liked this one, it's not one of my favorites. I will keep reading the Scarpetta series, though (hey, if Book of the Dead didn't stop me, nothing will!).
July 30, 2011
I think this book should have been titled "Port Mortuary: The Confusing and Pitiful Tale of Poor, Miserable Kay." Does anyone know - is Patricia Cornwell hosting a pity party or something? Have mercy! This book was more pages of "woe is me, my life sucks, waaaaah" than anything I think I've ever read. And confusing! I had to keep backtracking because I thought I had skipped something important. No, turns out Cornwell wrote this book in such a disjointed manner that it was just hard to follow.
I kept reading, thinking it would get better...or maybe because I'm sadistic? Some things were finally explained, but their effect on the general plot were pretty insignificant, really. It was like she was trying to tie a political subplot into the story to make a statement against the US government...but it really didn't gel. Or maybe that was just my anger with the poor story-telling.
Kay Scarpetta, I used to adore and admire you. Now you've become a miserable excuse for a character, wallowing in your self-pity. And you don't really do autopsies and work to find out "who-dun-it" like you used to. That was one of the qualities I enjoyed about you. You aren't the same character I fell in love with all those years ago. I don't think we can see each other any longer. It's not me, it's you...all you. Best wishes.
I kept reading, thinking it would get better...or maybe because I'm sadistic? Some things were finally explained, but their effect on the general plot were pretty insignificant, really. It was like she was trying to tie a political subplot into the story to make a statement against the US government...but it really didn't gel. Or maybe that was just my anger with the poor story-telling.
Kay Scarpetta, I used to adore and admire you. Now you've become a miserable excuse for a character, wallowing in your self-pity. And you don't really do autopsies and work to find out "who-dun-it" like you used to. That was one of the qualities I enjoyed about you. You aren't the same character I fell in love with all those years ago. I don't think we can see each other any longer. It's not me, it's you...all you. Best wishes.
May 3, 2011
Imagine yourself putting together a jigsaw puzzle in an almost completely darkened room. All of the pieces are shades of gray and black and you don't have the box cover. It takes a lot of time and effort to finish it, and after you do, you realize the picture isn't really worth seeing. That's what it's like to read Patricia Cornwell's latest Kay Scarpetta mystery, Port Mortuary.
Told from the first person perspective of Scarpetta herself, the tale is murky, mysterious and rather tedious. All the usual suspects (her investigator Marino, her husband Benton, her neice Lucy) are there as characters, but their chief function seems to be to lie to Scarpetta, keep her in the dark, hint at secrets they're not revealing, and keep her a tantalizing and frustrating distance from the truth. But then Scarpetta's function seems to be to do the same thing to the reader about her past. The relationships are strained and difficult and nobody seems to like each other or be honest with each other. Some of the high tech and forensic stuff is interesting (as usual), but it's hardly worth slogging through the hundreds of pages of the mush of a muddled, confusing and convoluted storyline and a silly plot to get to it. Basically, I'd have to rate this one "Dead on Arrival."
Told from the first person perspective of Scarpetta herself, the tale is murky, mysterious and rather tedious. All the usual suspects (her investigator Marino, her husband Benton, her neice Lucy) are there as characters, but their chief function seems to be to lie to Scarpetta, keep her in the dark, hint at secrets they're not revealing, and keep her a tantalizing and frustrating distance from the truth. But then Scarpetta's function seems to be to do the same thing to the reader about her past. The relationships are strained and difficult and nobody seems to like each other or be honest with each other. Some of the high tech and forensic stuff is interesting (as usual), but it's hardly worth slogging through the hundreds of pages of the mush of a muddled, confusing and convoluted storyline and a silly plot to get to it. Basically, I'd have to rate this one "Dead on Arrival."
July 3, 2011
This book was overly long and badly written. I hope for Patricia Cornwell's sake, that this is not the first Kay Scarpetta book anyone reads. If so, it will probably be the last. While always intense, Scarpetta was in the past at least interesting and a character you could care about. In this book she is merely a bitch. Not sympathetic at all. Surrounded by family, friends and employees, the only thing she seems to care about is an abandoned dog. That attachment, while possibly meant to humanize her, did just the opposite. The main purpose of this book appears to be for Cornwell to cram her vast knowledge of forensic medicine and technology down our throats. She explains some medical references ad nausem, insulting the intelligence of the reader. Other things she explains unnecessarily. For example: "Sock doesn't seem to be in any distress as he snores curled up like a teacup dog, a Chihuahua or poodle that can fit in a purse...". Seriously? Yet important plot points she skims over. More than once, I looked back thinking I had missed a page because the details of how we went from point A to point B were missing. All in all a disappointing effort. She gets a second star only because of the research work involved.
November 12, 2018
So the book was not only "awful", it was also "difficult." The first thing I had a problem with was the present tense, first person pov that Cornwell employed. It was enough to throw me off balance when reading and required great concentration to "keep up" with what was happening. Even when fully focused, however, I found myself paging back to reread, certain I had missed something of consequence, thereby lending to my confusion about certain events. After rereading, however, I was no more "in the know" than I was the first time around. It was as if Cornwell actually skipped relevant and important information that made the entire plot burdensome to follow. The reader investment in key characters is never properly courted, nor are character relationships sufficiently addressed, so when tragedy strikes, one is left with a "yeah, who cares" response. Scarpetta's marriage; her skewed relationships with Fielding and Briggs; her off-beat parent vs. aunt relationship with her niece--none is developed past the point of doggerel. Add to that a plethora of acronyms that were extremely distracting, and what you have here folks is an EPIC failure to communicate. Save your money--this one is headed for the bargain bin.
December 31, 2014
If you're looking for an engrossing and exciting Kay Scarpetta novel to dig into, keep looking, this one isn't it. Where Dr. Scarpetta was once a brilliant doctor who wasn't concerned with how others perceived her, she now obsesses constantly about everything she says and does and questions every decision she makes. She is a sad, paranoid, and barely recognizable Dr. Scarpetta. She has lost all her self-esteem and seems confused throughout most of the book. There is absolutely no passion between her and Benton, her FBI profiler husband. They relate to each other as one would a co-worker. I used to stay up past my bedtime to read a Scarpetta novel because I couldn't put it down. I could barely slog through this one and kept yawning and falling asleep after 4 or 5 pages. Conversations go on for endless page after page, repeating the same information over and over, but going nowhere. This will be my last Patricia Cornwell novel. There are too many other books out there much more deserving of my time.
June 12, 2023
3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars. I really don’t like the way Kay’s personal interactions have been in the last several books in the series. She seems unable to have meaningful conversations with the people she cares about for much of the book and it feels like none of these people are even slightly normal. Overall the premise of the story was great and I enjoyed that. But the interpersonal relationships just feel so off and disconcerting. I was ready to completely give up on this series after the previous book but I found this one easier to take and I think I will continue. Does anyone else feel this way?? Maybe it’s just me.
November 11, 2010
The first person style of the book is an interesting change to the usual set out of Scarpetta novels.
However I did find the book a little slow on the action. Most of the book covered Kay's inner dialogue, interesting though that might have been, it did tend to confuse the story somewhat for me and the usual supporting characters such as Marino, Lucy and Benton played such little roles that oftentimes I forgot they were actually a part of the action.
The sub plot regarding her hidden past was promising, but in the end didn't follow through. The conversation with one of the victims families was stilted and a poor way to end that part of the plot.
The "baddie" in the book was disappointing. Without giving too much away, the victims and the relationship between them was confusing and explained too late in the book to provide the usual Scarpetta induced panic and furious page turning that usually occurs with a Cornwell novel.
Whilst I may have complained about the tried and true methods used by Cornwell, in this instance I feel that the decision to move away from the usual formula has distanced readers away from a connection or vested interest in the plot. However reading Scarpettas inner musings did sometimes feel like an intrusion of her privacy!!
Of course Scarpetta fans are going to pick this book up, I just hope the next book answers the questions this one raised ( read it for yourself to determine what I'm referring to!!)
However I did find the book a little slow on the action. Most of the book covered Kay's inner dialogue, interesting though that might have been, it did tend to confuse the story somewhat for me and the usual supporting characters such as Marino, Lucy and Benton played such little roles that oftentimes I forgot they were actually a part of the action.
The sub plot regarding her hidden past was promising, but in the end didn't follow through. The conversation with one of the victims families was stilted and a poor way to end that part of the plot.
The "baddie" in the book was disappointing. Without giving too much away, the victims and the relationship between them was confusing and explained too late in the book to provide the usual Scarpetta induced panic and furious page turning that usually occurs with a Cornwell novel.
Whilst I may have complained about the tried and true methods used by Cornwell, in this instance I feel that the decision to move away from the usual formula has distanced readers away from a connection or vested interest in the plot. However reading Scarpettas inner musings did sometimes feel like an intrusion of her privacy!!
Of course Scarpetta fans are going to pick this book up, I just hope the next book answers the questions this one raised ( read it for yourself to determine what I'm referring to!!)
October 21, 2011
I was all excited when I realized that this book was back to the first person narrative of Kay Scarpetta but soon I was lost in the overly whiny nature of the narrative. She's not being told everything by Benton (come on, after 20 years you should know the score) Marino is being an overbearing arse, Lucy is hiding something. In other words not much has changed. The venue for the book is Boston where Kay is now the head of a Port Mortuary, and apparently is the Chief Medical Examiner for Boston, but she's not been there pretty much since the building she is overseeing has been opened. She's been in Dover, MD for the last 6 months working with an apparent old colleague and boss General Briggs. The book tells us about some of her life before she started at Richmond as the Chief ME for Virginia, about her time in the military (something that I don't believe I've ever seen alluded to in past novels). Kay had left her one time deputy Jack Fielding in charge, but it seems like Jack has finally lost his marbles and the shiny new state of the art facility is riddled with problems, as are the cases and the people processing them. The book was good, and like I said it was nice to have that first person narrative, I just wish it was not so bogged down through the middle with almost innane, paranoid ramblings.
July 3, 2017
Kay Scarpetta is that friend you were super close to when you're young. You loved her to death when you were little, you were thick as thieves in elementary school, and you were inseparable in middle school. When you got to high school, things started to change. Little things at first that started to wriggle between you. A comment here, a new friend there. You start to develop new interests and, by the time senior year rolls around, you just wave in the hallway and that's it. You don't talk through college. You get the invitation to your high school reunion and you think back to being kids and you think, yeah, it'll be great to see that old friend again. Nostalgia. She turns out to be a loud, obnoxious, bigot with a fake tan and a bad dye job who gets drunk really early and tries to get everyone to buy into her sleazy husband's hedge fund. You go home and ask yourself how you could ever have been friends with her.
I loved this series for so long that it just makes me sad how bad it is now. I keep picking the books up out of nostalgia, but each one is worse than the last. There are so many things wrong, I barely know where to begin.
The pacing. Christ the pacing. Noting happens for so long it almost seems like a joke. Like she was daring her editor to say something and the editor didn't have the guts. I don't know how long it takes to fly a helicopter from Dover to Boston, but, based on this book I have to assume 7-10 days. I listened to this as an audiobook while running 30 minutes a day, every other day. It took me almost two weeks to get through the helicopter trip. I am not even kidding right now. Almost two weeks. I nearly cried with relief when they landed, but then it took me another week to get through the drive from the airport to her office.
Speaking of- what's with the snow? She described snow hitting the windscreen of the helicopter, snow hitting the windshield of the car, and snow hitting the window of her office so many times I thought I was having deja vu. It was awful, unoriginal, and deathly dull. We get it. It's snowing. Please talk about something else. Anything else. Except helicopters. I spent the last two weeks listening to you dry hump a helicopter, I'll listen to anything else.
I think that's the thing, though, even when something happened, nothing happened. Scarpetta used to do things. Incredible things. Brilliant, almost unbelievable things. Now things just happen around her and she is this wide-eyed, brainless voyeur that in no way resembles the character she once was. She is alternately confident in her marriage, worried about her own coldness to Benton,and worried he is sleeping with every woman he works with, often within the same thought. He is alternately an emasculated wimp, a liar, a gentle partner, and a cold jerk, often within the same thought. Humans are complex creatures, sure, but this isn't the layers of a complex character, it's too sporadic for that. It feels like the ravings of a madwoman.
Of course, it isn't just Scarpetta and Benton. The characterization in this novel is wildly inconsistent. Scarpetta labels Lucy a sociopath because she is calm, calculating, and doesn't share her emotions. Marino, meanwhile, who, let us not forget because Scarpetta seems to have forgotten, attempted to rape her a few years ago, is a good guy who can be trusted. She actually said that. She said it to a dog, but still, she said it. How does this make sense in her head? He spews hate, racism, misogyny, and sexually violent fantasies in normal conversation and that's cool. A woman with a law enforcement and military background calmly assesses situations and doesn't sugar coat them and that makes her dangerous. Sure. That's rational. (sarcasm font)
Speaking of irrational- this plot is nuts. And not in the 'oooh- I didn't see that coming' suspense novel kinda way. In a 'what is she smoking' kinda way. Selling the semen of dead guys back to their families so they could have dead guy's baby? How on Earth could anyone think that would be a viable black market opportunity? Not one family member of the one hundred patients he stole body fluids from turned the creep medical examiner in? Not one? Then there is a long explanation about how nanobots in drugs could make Jack do all these crazy things, followed closely by a one paragraph explanation about how actually he didn't do any of those things. It was the daughter who was produced in a childhood trauma never before discussed who did it. What?! And the whole South Africa thing that had nothing to do with nothing?! Where did that come from and why?!
I just can't even with Kay Scarpetta or Patricia Cornwell anymore. I. Just. Can't. Even.
I loved this series for so long that it just makes me sad how bad it is now. I keep picking the books up out of nostalgia, but each one is worse than the last. There are so many things wrong, I barely know where to begin.
The pacing. Christ the pacing. Noting happens for so long it almost seems like a joke. Like she was daring her editor to say something and the editor didn't have the guts. I don't know how long it takes to fly a helicopter from Dover to Boston, but, based on this book I have to assume 7-10 days. I listened to this as an audiobook while running 30 minutes a day, every other day. It took me almost two weeks to get through the helicopter trip. I am not even kidding right now. Almost two weeks. I nearly cried with relief when they landed, but then it took me another week to get through the drive from the airport to her office.
Speaking of- what's with the snow? She described snow hitting the windscreen of the helicopter, snow hitting the windshield of the car, and snow hitting the window of her office so many times I thought I was having deja vu. It was awful, unoriginal, and deathly dull. We get it. It's snowing. Please talk about something else. Anything else. Except helicopters. I spent the last two weeks listening to you dry hump a helicopter, I'll listen to anything else.
I think that's the thing, though, even when something happened, nothing happened. Scarpetta used to do things. Incredible things. Brilliant, almost unbelievable things. Now things just happen around her and she is this wide-eyed, brainless voyeur that in no way resembles the character she once was. She is alternately confident in her marriage, worried about her own coldness to Benton,and worried he is sleeping with every woman he works with, often within the same thought. He is alternately an emasculated wimp, a liar, a gentle partner, and a cold jerk, often within the same thought. Humans are complex creatures, sure, but this isn't the layers of a complex character, it's too sporadic for that. It feels like the ravings of a madwoman.
Of course, it isn't just Scarpetta and Benton. The characterization in this novel is wildly inconsistent. Scarpetta labels Lucy a sociopath because she is calm, calculating, and doesn't share her emotions. Marino, meanwhile, who, let us not forget because Scarpetta seems to have forgotten, attempted to rape her a few years ago, is a good guy who can be trusted. She actually said that. She said it to a dog, but still, she said it. How does this make sense in her head? He spews hate, racism, misogyny, and sexually violent fantasies in normal conversation and that's cool. A woman with a law enforcement and military background calmly assesses situations and doesn't sugar coat them and that makes her dangerous. Sure. That's rational. (sarcasm font)
Speaking of irrational- this plot is nuts. And not in the 'oooh- I didn't see that coming' suspense novel kinda way. In a 'what is she smoking' kinda way. Selling the semen of dead guys back to their families so they could have dead guy's baby? How on Earth could anyone think that would be a viable black market opportunity? Not one family member of the one hundred patients he stole body fluids from turned the creep medical examiner in? Not one? Then there is a long explanation about how nanobots in drugs could make Jack do all these crazy things, followed closely by a one paragraph explanation about how actually he didn't do any of those things. It was the daughter who was produced in a childhood trauma never before discussed who did it. What?! And the whole South Africa thing that had nothing to do with nothing?! Where did that come from and why?!
I just can't even with Kay Scarpetta or Patricia Cornwell anymore. I. Just. Can't. Even.
January 4, 2011
one of my new year's resolutions: read no more books by cornwell.
i loved scarpetta, benton, lucy, et al for so long i have continued reading out of habit, but this was TERRIBLE. they have been getting progressively worse for years, but this was the pits. i had to FORCE myself to finish it!
she simply doesn't make sense. contradictions, repetition, and minute details about irrelevant plot points with NO input on the important stuff was so dang frustrating.
i am angry. angry that characters i cared about are getting such short shrift ...
grrrr ....
i loved scarpetta, benton, lucy, et al for so long i have continued reading out of habit, but this was TERRIBLE. they have been getting progressively worse for years, but this was the pits. i had to FORCE myself to finish it!
she simply doesn't make sense. contradictions, repetition, and minute details about irrelevant plot points with NO input on the important stuff was so dang frustrating.
i am angry. angry that characters i cared about are getting such short shrift ...
grrrr ....
April 3, 2017
What's going on? Who can Kay Scarpetta trust? Benton, her husband? Marino, her chief investigative officer? Lucy, her niece? There are some things that are going on that shows no one is to be trusted. Her Assistant chief medical officer, Jack Fielding, has turned the coroner's office into a a madhouse.
This story was a little confusing because there were so many people and entities involved; the Army, FBI and other forensic specialists. The true story why will never be resolved but they did determine as to The Who behind all the murders. Not one of my favorites by this author.
This story was a little confusing because there were so many people and entities involved; the Army, FBI and other forensic specialists. The true story why will never be resolved but they did determine as to The Who behind all the murders. Not one of my favorites by this author.
November 30, 2010
Patricia Cornwell is the only writer who has gotten me out of bed during a late night reading frenzy to double check that the doors and windows are locked.
She's also one of the few writers whose release dates I track for new books and I usually buy them on the lay down date. This time around I was happy to get an early review copy.
I'm also thrilled that she's coming to Chicago! She'll be at the Borders in Oak Brook, IL on Thursday, 12/3/10, at 7pm. Please call the store for the latest details: 630-574-0800. [Disclosure: I work there part-time.]
I've been reading Cornwell since the late 1990s when I first started getting into mystery novels and her characters--Kay Scarpetta, Pete Marino, Lucy Farinelli, and Benton Wesely--are like old friends to me. Her first novel, Postmortem (1991) is still, I believe, the only novel to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony and Macavity Awards as well as the French Prix du Roman d'Adventure in a single year. She has been credited with starting the whole CSI craze due to her meticulous and engaging incorporation of the latest forensic investigative techniques and technology in her Scarpetta novels.
When I first started reading the Scarpetta novels I lived in Charlotte, NC where Cornwell is considered a bit of a home girl because she was a reporter for The Charlotte Observer and went to college up the road at Davidson.
Port Mortuary takes Kay Scarpetta in a fresh new direction, but the novel is a bit slow on action. The book, however, never dragged for me. I just realized at one point that I was still reading about Scarpetta thinking after X number of pages. I won't go so far as to say I am disappointed with this novel, but it wasn't the action packed thriller that I was anticipating. Port Mortuary started strong, but I think it got a little bogged down in Scarpetta's internal musings. I would've preferred to see Scarpetta engage in more action and to see more interaction between the main characters, but that's not the book Cornwell wrote. And I know she has her reasons.
I'm looking at this novel as setting up lots of potential thrills going forward. Scarpetta certainly learns a lot about herself in this story and tensions are set up between the characters and various organizations for future harvesting. I know Cornwell fans will enjoy the novel and the new direction it is taking Scarpetta. Actually, the more I write about this novel the more fascinating it seems. I can't wait to talk with people who've read it to compare notes.
In this entry in the series we learn of Scarpetta's early work with the Air Force to pay off her medical school loans before she started her professional career. There's also a dark secret that's been haunting her and which she's been hiding since the Reagan years. Scarpetta has been appointed chief of the new state of the art Cambridge Forensic Center in Massachusetts which is a joint venture between state and national government (including the military), MIT, and Harvard. However, she's been away at Dover Air Force Base practically since the new facility opened participating in an internship to learn how to conduct virtual autopsies using CT-assisted technology.
The four month internship has dragged on into six months and all is not well back home at the Cambridge Forensic Center where Scarpetta left Jack Fielding in charge. But Scarpetta doesn't know that all is not well. She's been cocooned working long hours at Dover. And no one is really telling her anything these days. Then, a young man drops dead near Scarpetta's house in Cambridge. His body is taken to the Cambridge Forensic Center where his body starts to bleed in the cooler overnight. Anyone whose read Cornwell knows that dead bodies don't bleed, which means the man may have been put in the cooler while he was still alive. Scarpetta's reputation is on the line. She may not have been there, but she's in charge and while she's been away standards have slipped and her second in command, Jack Fielding, has disappeared. Pete Marino and Lucy Farinelli helicopter in to Dover to take Scarpetta home to Cambridge. General Briggs, Scarpetta's commanding officer at Dover and the only one who knows about her earlier, dark secret, seems to want to interfere with her domain. All of this, along with a few other things, makes Scarpetta a little paranoid, which sets up her internal musings. The story takes off from there.
Cornwell delivers more of her trademark incorporation of the latest techniques and technology in crime scene investigation--virtual autopsies and various nano technologies--all the while maintaining a deep sense of respect for the victim's of crime as well as other living creatures. Excuse me one cryptic remark, but going forward I'll be looking a little closer at flies on the wall after having read this novel.
Diehard Cornwell fans will no doubt pick-up Port Mortuary asap and, as always, it'll be like reconnecting with old friends.
She's also one of the few writers whose release dates I track for new books and I usually buy them on the lay down date. This time around I was happy to get an early review copy.
I'm also thrilled that she's coming to Chicago! She'll be at the Borders in Oak Brook, IL on Thursday, 12/3/10, at 7pm. Please call the store for the latest details: 630-574-0800. [Disclosure: I work there part-time.]
I've been reading Cornwell since the late 1990s when I first started getting into mystery novels and her characters--Kay Scarpetta, Pete Marino, Lucy Farinelli, and Benton Wesely--are like old friends to me. Her first novel, Postmortem (1991) is still, I believe, the only novel to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony and Macavity Awards as well as the French Prix du Roman d'Adventure in a single year. She has been credited with starting the whole CSI craze due to her meticulous and engaging incorporation of the latest forensic investigative techniques and technology in her Scarpetta novels.
When I first started reading the Scarpetta novels I lived in Charlotte, NC where Cornwell is considered a bit of a home girl because she was a reporter for The Charlotte Observer and went to college up the road at Davidson.
Port Mortuary takes Kay Scarpetta in a fresh new direction, but the novel is a bit slow on action. The book, however, never dragged for me. I just realized at one point that I was still reading about Scarpetta thinking after X number of pages. I won't go so far as to say I am disappointed with this novel, but it wasn't the action packed thriller that I was anticipating. Port Mortuary started strong, but I think it got a little bogged down in Scarpetta's internal musings. I would've preferred to see Scarpetta engage in more action and to see more interaction between the main characters, but that's not the book Cornwell wrote. And I know she has her reasons.
I'm looking at this novel as setting up lots of potential thrills going forward. Scarpetta certainly learns a lot about herself in this story and tensions are set up between the characters and various organizations for future harvesting. I know Cornwell fans will enjoy the novel and the new direction it is taking Scarpetta. Actually, the more I write about this novel the more fascinating it seems. I can't wait to talk with people who've read it to compare notes.
In this entry in the series we learn of Scarpetta's early work with the Air Force to pay off her medical school loans before she started her professional career. There's also a dark secret that's been haunting her and which she's been hiding since the Reagan years. Scarpetta has been appointed chief of the new state of the art Cambridge Forensic Center in Massachusetts which is a joint venture between state and national government (including the military), MIT, and Harvard. However, she's been away at Dover Air Force Base practically since the new facility opened participating in an internship to learn how to conduct virtual autopsies using CT-assisted technology.
The four month internship has dragged on into six months and all is not well back home at the Cambridge Forensic Center where Scarpetta left Jack Fielding in charge. But Scarpetta doesn't know that all is not well. She's been cocooned working long hours at Dover. And no one is really telling her anything these days. Then, a young man drops dead near Scarpetta's house in Cambridge. His body is taken to the Cambridge Forensic Center where his body starts to bleed in the cooler overnight. Anyone whose read Cornwell knows that dead bodies don't bleed, which means the man may have been put in the cooler while he was still alive. Scarpetta's reputation is on the line. She may not have been there, but she's in charge and while she's been away standards have slipped and her second in command, Jack Fielding, has disappeared. Pete Marino and Lucy Farinelli helicopter in to Dover to take Scarpetta home to Cambridge. General Briggs, Scarpetta's commanding officer at Dover and the only one who knows about her earlier, dark secret, seems to want to interfere with her domain. All of this, along with a few other things, makes Scarpetta a little paranoid, which sets up her internal musings. The story takes off from there.
Cornwell delivers more of her trademark incorporation of the latest techniques and technology in crime scene investigation--virtual autopsies and various nano technologies--all the while maintaining a deep sense of respect for the victim's of crime as well as other living creatures. Excuse me one cryptic remark, but going forward I'll be looking a little closer at flies on the wall after having read this novel.
Diehard Cornwell fans will no doubt pick-up Port Mortuary asap and, as always, it'll be like reconnecting with old friends.
September 20, 2017
“Passami il sale, per favore”. Seduto di fornte a me, mentre impugna posate in acciao Posatil da 200 $ al pezzo, Benton, mio marito mi ha fatto quella che pare essere una semplice richiesta per insaporire il filetto Kobe che ha nel piatto. Ma non sono sicura su come devo interpretare le sue parole.
Mentre afferro la saliera con macina sale, un modello esclusivo di Alessi, che contiene 20 grammi di prezioso sale rosa dell’Himalaya – da quella volta che sono stata in missione nel ’91 col generale Briggs per fare l’autopsia a un ipotetico yeti, in realtà un gigante pelosissimo del tutto umano, non ho più potuto farne a meno – mi chiedo cosa sottintenda la domanda.
La saliera comprende un tappo messo a punto da mia nipote Lucy, croce e delizia della mia vita: il tappo è dotato di sensori biotecnologici in grado di valutare ed interpretare le emozioni di chi lo impugna. Il sensore rimanda le informazioni al mio iPhone, oppure a un visore incastrato sul mio portatovaglioli. Che purtroppo in questo momento è sporco di sugo al pomodoro (mi rilassa sempre cucinare italiano, come le mie origini, ho scoperto recentemente di essere parente del Parmigianino, il noto produttore di formaggi stagionati).
Lucy avrebbe voluto mettere anche una microtelecamera nei chicchi di riso Carnaroli che metto all’interno della saliera, a scopo puramente decorativo poiché è dotata di un impianto di climatizzazione a isotopi di uranio (non arricchito, naturalmente). Gliel’ho impedito perché mi sembrava un tantino paranoide.
“Il sale, Kay?” Benton mi esorta. In effetti, ho ancora la saliera in mano. Vorrà dire che la carne è insipida o che la nostra relazione è insipida? Non è facile essere sposata con il più famoso profilatore dell’FBI. Ogni sua parola, ogni suo pensiero ne nasconde un altro, cose che non mi può rivelare , coperte da segreto, pericolose per la mia vita.
“Kay, posso avere il sale?!” sembra spazientito, sto iniziando a preoccuparmi mentre lo osservo sopra la tavola con tovaglia Super fine line de luxe royal Egyptian, al di là della bottiglia di Chablis da 400 $.
Anche con i capelli brizzolati Benton emana sempre un’immagine di calma e solidità. “Vuoi darmi quel cazzo di sale o ti devo sparare?”
---- A parte il fatto che tutto il libro è su questo tono, Cornwell sa sempre tenere alta la curiosità (zero tensione) e sembra che sia tornata ad appassionarsi alla sua diletta Scarpetta. Con risultati anni luci lontani da Post Mortem, sia ben chiaro. Ma almeno leggibili, cosa che non si poteva di certo dire per l’ultima mezza dozzina.
Ps: se lo avete letto e vi state chiedendo che senso ha il finale, meglio che leggiate anche il successivo “Nebbia rossa”, probabilmente l’editore+ scrittore li hanno divisi per lucrarci il doppio.
PPs: grazie kindle.
PPPs: il pezzo sopra NON è di Cornwell, ma mio ....
Mentre afferro la saliera con macina sale, un modello esclusivo di Alessi, che contiene 20 grammi di prezioso sale rosa dell’Himalaya – da quella volta che sono stata in missione nel ’91 col generale Briggs per fare l’autopsia a un ipotetico yeti, in realtà un gigante pelosissimo del tutto umano, non ho più potuto farne a meno – mi chiedo cosa sottintenda la domanda.
La saliera comprende un tappo messo a punto da mia nipote Lucy, croce e delizia della mia vita: il tappo è dotato di sensori biotecnologici in grado di valutare ed interpretare le emozioni di chi lo impugna. Il sensore rimanda le informazioni al mio iPhone, oppure a un visore incastrato sul mio portatovaglioli. Che purtroppo in questo momento è sporco di sugo al pomodoro (mi rilassa sempre cucinare italiano, come le mie origini, ho scoperto recentemente di essere parente del Parmigianino, il noto produttore di formaggi stagionati).
Lucy avrebbe voluto mettere anche una microtelecamera nei chicchi di riso Carnaroli che metto all’interno della saliera, a scopo puramente decorativo poiché è dotata di un impianto di climatizzazione a isotopi di uranio (non arricchito, naturalmente). Gliel’ho impedito perché mi sembrava un tantino paranoide.
“Il sale, Kay?” Benton mi esorta. In effetti, ho ancora la saliera in mano. Vorrà dire che la carne è insipida o che la nostra relazione è insipida? Non è facile essere sposata con il più famoso profilatore dell’FBI. Ogni sua parola, ogni suo pensiero ne nasconde un altro, cose che non mi può rivelare , coperte da segreto, pericolose per la mia vita.
“Kay, posso avere il sale?!” sembra spazientito, sto iniziando a preoccuparmi mentre lo osservo sopra la tavola con tovaglia Super fine line de luxe royal Egyptian, al di là della bottiglia di Chablis da 400 $.
Anche con i capelli brizzolati Benton emana sempre un’immagine di calma e solidità. “Vuoi darmi quel cazzo di sale o ti devo sparare?”
---- A parte il fatto che tutto il libro è su questo tono, Cornwell sa sempre tenere alta la curiosità (zero tensione) e sembra che sia tornata ad appassionarsi alla sua diletta Scarpetta. Con risultati anni luci lontani da Post Mortem, sia ben chiaro. Ma almeno leggibili, cosa che non si poteva di certo dire per l’ultima mezza dozzina.
Ps: se lo avete letto e vi state chiedendo che senso ha il finale, meglio che leggiate anche il successivo “Nebbia rossa”, probabilmente l’editore+ scrittore li hanno divisi per lucrarci il doppio.
PPs: grazie kindle.
PPPs: il pezzo sopra NON è di Cornwell, ma mio ....
May 1, 2018
Non chiedevo troppo.
Desideravo solo leggere un libro che avesse queste due caratteristiche:
1. Una parte medico-legale, corredata di autopsia;
2. Un’indagine poliziesca, corredata dal lavoro da poliziotto.
Non chiedevo troppo.
L’autopsia compare a pagina 220 circa, l’indagine neanche esiste. La narrazione è al presente, in prima persona, fredda, asettica. Sembra di sentir parlare un automa. Nessuna emozione traspare tra i numerosissimi pensieri della dottoressa, che sta più tempo nella sua testa che nel mondo reale. Mi raccomando, poi, non parlare con il marito, perché a quanto pare nasconde sempre qualcosa che non può dire. Tanto più che quella che ci va a rimettere è sempre lei. Ricordiamoci poi il rapporto con il comandante Briggs, mai sentito in vita mia. Perché naturalmente uno deve conoscere vita e miracoli della dottoressa per poter comprendere almeno le prime pagine.
Zero pathos, zero suspense, zero azione, zero emozioni.
Anche se la lettura non è stata noiosa, non mi ha lasciato alcunché. Tutto ciò è molto lontano dai primissimi libri con protagonista Scarpetta, che allora era molto più umana e comunicativa.
Desideravo solo leggere un libro che avesse queste due caratteristiche:
1. Una parte medico-legale, corredata di autopsia;
2. Un’indagine poliziesca, corredata dal lavoro da poliziotto.
Non chiedevo troppo.
L’autopsia compare a pagina 220 circa, l’indagine neanche esiste. La narrazione è al presente, in prima persona, fredda, asettica. Sembra di sentir parlare un automa. Nessuna emozione traspare tra i numerosissimi pensieri della dottoressa, che sta più tempo nella sua testa che nel mondo reale. Mi raccomando, poi, non parlare con il marito, perché a quanto pare nasconde sempre qualcosa che non può dire. Tanto più che quella che ci va a rimettere è sempre lei. Ricordiamoci poi il rapporto con il comandante Briggs, mai sentito in vita mia. Perché naturalmente uno deve conoscere vita e miracoli della dottoressa per poter comprendere almeno le prime pagine.
Zero pathos, zero suspense, zero azione, zero emozioni.
Anche se la lettura non è stata noiosa, non mi ha lasciato alcunché. Tutto ciò è molto lontano dai primissimi libri con protagonista Scarpetta, che allora era molto più umana e comunicativa.
February 25, 2011
I say finished, but by finished I do not mean I read the entire book. This is the first Patricia Cornwell book that I could not, and did not want to, finish. I guess after 10+ books in the series, you just have to let go of the plots and characters. Enough is enough. Characters are not likable anymore and the whole military theme seems out of place in this series. I am not usually confused in her books, but this one, I had NO CLUE what was going on. Bummer :-)
July 2, 2019
better than the last;
but not too much;
the angst between the main protagonists was toned down, at least
holy crap, though!
what a way for to exit!
p173: anther pathetic story about boarding schools, this one, thank god, not catholic but for troubled teens, one of these private treatment center-slash-academies that has ranch in its name.
plus:
the knife on this edition's cover is misleading
but not too much;
the angst between the main protagonists was toned down, at least
holy crap, though!
what a way for to exit!
p173: anther pathetic story about boarding schools, this one, thank god, not catholic but for troubled teens, one of these private treatment center-slash-academies that has ranch in its name.
plus:
the knife on this edition's cover is misleading
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