Product Description

The 'book of the dead' is the morgue log, the ledger in which all cases are entered by hand. For Kay Scarpetta, however, it is about to have a new meaning. Fresh from her bruising battle with a psychopath in Florida, Scarpetta decides it's time for a change of pace. Moving to the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina, she opens a unique private forensic pathology practice, one in which she and her colleagues offer expert crime scene investigation and autopsies to communities lacking local access to competent death investigation and modern technology. It seems like an ideal situation, until the murders and other violent deaths begin. A woman is ritualistically murdered in her multi-million-dollar beach home. The body of an abused young boy is found dumped in a desolate marsh. A sixteen-year-old tennis star is found nude and mutilated near Piazza Navona in Rome. Scarpetta has dealt with many brutal and unusual crimes before, but never a string of them as baffling, or as terrifying, as the ones before her now. Before she is through, that book of the dead will contain many names - and the pen may be poised to write her own.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51332 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10
• Released on: 2007-10-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Review
'Classic Cornwell territory with...a sharp political element that will ensure the book isn't on George Bush's bedside table' Daily Express 'Serving up an Ace....Cornwell is firmly back on the money here.' Daily Mirror 'Patricia Cornwell is the queen of gritty, grisly, crime fiction writing and her latest offering doesn't disappoint. Book of the Dead will keep you gripped throughout' Heat "The reason we read novels about the forensic investigation of crime is not artistic decorum but a fascination with how things work. This is what Cornwell has always provided, and it is an area in which she does not disappoint." Times Literary Supplement 'Hannibal Lecter, eat your liver out. Tersely written, elaborately plotted and crammed with research, Cornwell's writing has always been hard-boiled - but this one would crack a paving stone if dropped.' The London Paper 'Vivid anatomical details and expert forensic knowledge come together in Cornwell's new thriller.' Herald

Heat
`Patricia Cornwell is the queen of gritty, grisly, crime fiction writing and her latest offering doesn't disappoint. Book of the Dead will keep you gripped throughout'

Daily Mirror
`Serving up an ace...Cornwell is firmly back on the money here.'

Customer Reviews

Truly dreadful!
I remember (in my youth) reading Patricia Cornwell novels at two or three in the morning and not wanting to put the book down. This latest offering has quite the opposite effect, and is a lazy effort, lacking any credible attempt to create suspense and atmosphere. The book relies too heavily of the reader already knowing the main characters and, more to the point having read the previous couple of books. The writing is not sharp and the characterisation is very flat. I had no empathy for any of the characters - without exception, and I found the plot wearying - instead of moving the action forward in a purposeful manner it lurched from contrivance to contrivance. I struggled to finish it, and really only did out of past loyalty. This book is a sad disappointment, and I cannot recommend it to anyone - even die hard Patricia Cornwell fans should steer clear.

Help me I can't deal with this misery anymore
As is the case for many of the reviewers of this book, I have been a big fan of Scarpetta since Lucy was a precocious brat and Marino had self respect. Slowly, over the years, the stories have weakened and more often the reader has found themselves contending with the social issues of the main characters over the chance of a good story. I am still reading this, the latest chapter in the Scarpetta saga and the question i ask myself is WHY?, why has Cornwell written this book, for it is not a story, it is a trial, it tests your commitment to the characters who you have followed for so long. Why am i still reading? because I can't believe that there isnt some sort of story lurking in the last few pages. This is without a doubt the worst book in the series if not the worst I have read in years. Cornwell needs to pull her self together and decide what she is going to do with this series, because I for one am unlikely to buy the next one and if it continues in this vein I will definately make that the last.

Book of the What?
I have just finished reading this drivel after it taking me 3 months and a stop gap in between. I used to be able to read a Scarpetta book in a matter of hours but this one was sheer pain to read. The characters are all horrible. There isn't a single redeeming feature about any of them. Kay is as miserable as we've ever seen her, Benton is useless. What does he do exactly? Lucy is vile, a big headed, opinionated, aggressive character who seems to hate everyone except her beloved Aunt Kay and Benton. Lucy can't even seem to hold a civil conversation with anyone without making out shes God's gift to the security world.And Marino, well what to say about him. Thank God he's disappeared.
The whole Scarpetta series has turned into a ridiculous farce, its so unbelievable. The paranoia experienced in the last few books is so far fetched and unneccessary and Patricia Cornwell should have left Benton dead. For me that was the turning point into the riduculous. Up until then the books all had a sense of authority and truth to them and given what Patricia does for a living, I would have expected nothing less.
The Book of the Dead is a difficult read, the story doesn't follow, I thought pages had been missed as the conversations taking place didn't follow on. I had no idea what was going on for most of the book.The ending was very poor and I still have no idea who killed who? Why they were killed and more to the point, do I even care anymore?
As a fan of the Scarpetta series I have been greatly disappointed in this last effort and I certainly won't be wasting any more money buying Patricia Cornwell books. Shame on you, Patricia.