Product Description

After her resignation as Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner and the horrifying events which threatened her life in THE LAST PRECINCT, Kay Scarpetta has abandoned her elegant home in Richmond and is quietly living in Florida, beginning to get some balance back in her life and slowly establishing herself as a private forensic consultant. But her past won't let her rest, and her grief for Benton Wesley continues to grow, not diminish, as does the rage within Lucy, her niece. Then the architect of her changed fortunes contacts her from his cell on death row: deformed, blinded by Scarpetta's own actions, incarcerated in Texas strongest prison, Jean- Baptiste Chardonne still has the ability to terrify. But, unknown to Scarpetta, there are other forces behind the wolfman's apparent actions, invisibly shepherding her and those closest to her towards eliminating those who threaten them all. And it is all orchestrated by the one man in her life who knows every nuance of her soul. Visit the author's website at www patricia- cornwell.com

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7448 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

Review
'When she is this good, she is hard to beat.' New Statesman 'Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns.' Mirror 'A tremendous read' Sunday Telegraph 'This powerful story of Scarpetta's nemesis tightens up the tension and the body count...' Independent On Sunday

About the Author
Since the first novel was published in 1990, Patricia Cornwell and her creation, Kay Scarpetta, have become household names and she has earned widespread critical acclaim. She has helped to establish the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine and serves as its Chairman of the Board.

Customer Reviews

More Isle of Dogs than Postmortem!!!!
Calling all Scarpetta fans....This is not the usual Scarpetta outing, as Patricia Cornwell has changed her Style of writing.
I'm a huge fan of Ms Cornwell & Scarpetta and have collected her work since the early 90's.
I feel I was left out in the cold while reading Blowfly and more than a little confused.
The chapters are very short (some only half a page) and jump from one part of the plot to the next without drawing breath.
Instead of feeling like I was part of the team, as I usually do reading Scarpetta novels, I felt more like an outsider.
To me Blowfly feels more like a re-introduction of characters, some old and some new, than a continuation of the series. But stick with it as all becomes clear in the end.
I hope we don't have to wait too long for book 13 (if there is one!) Three years is a long time to wait for a Scarpetta fan.
But please let the next book be in the style of classic Scarpetta.

Starts well but... Oh dear.
Before I start, I have to say that I've found the last few installments of the Scarpetta series to be simple variations on a theme. The stories have gone from being about the cases of the CME of Richmond, who happens to be called Kay Scarpetta, to being about Kay Scarpetta, who happens to be the CME of Richmond, her family and the things that happen to them.

You can imagine, then, the uncertainty I felt when purchasing this book, especially since Ms Cornwell has radically changed the style of writing.

First off, that style of writing takes some getting used to. Not the third person part - that's fairly standard and, I think, makes the book more interesting - you get to see far more of the action this way.

The problem is that Ms Cornwell has decided to write in the present tense, which occasionally causes eye-watering moments as one has to become accustomed to reading it.

The other major problem was that even if you finish the book it feels unfinished. The story sort of tails off with the kind of ending that's obviously setting things up for a sequel but ties up many loose ends in one fell swoop and makes the reader feel cheated when things were just getting exciting.

All in all this book is worth reading, but only if you're a die-hard Scarpetta fan. If not, I'd suggest sticking with the earlier novels which are by far better written and more exciting.

VERY DISAPPOINTED!
As this is an expensive book (and at the moment only seems to be out in hardback - adding to the cost) I waited a while until the price went down. Unable to wait any longer as I was very excited about a new Kay Scarpetta book I was so disapointed with what I am reading.
I usually read a book in about 2 days whereas this book seems to be taking me ages. From the first page you can tell straight away that this is not going to be as good as her other books.
Why oh why oh why is Patricia Cornwell writing Kay Scarpetta in the third person. This completely ruins the book and I feel so distant from the Scarpetta character that is is very pointless to read it.
Please read reviews and at least the first page of the book before you buy it which is what I didnt do!