Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15875 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10
• Released on: 2007-10-23
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Daily Express
`...classic Cornwell territory...a sharp political element that will ensure the book isn't on George Bush's bedside table'

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

Cornwell versus Reichs?
This is only the second Kay Scarpetta book I have read, but I have to say, as a previous die hard Temperance Brennan fan, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I do find Cornwells' style of writing a little difficult to follow sometimes, Reichs writing is a little more easy going, but both have you on the edge of your sofa and thoroughtly engrossed. The story leads you through the plot dropping little hints here and there, and I'm sorry to say we meet an unfortunate side to one of the main characters. I thought the story ended a little abruptly and left me hanging at bit. But nevertheless I am looking forward to increasing my collection of Cornwell novels.

Boring
I have been a great fan of this author for many years, and like other reviewers have read the Scarpetta books in the order of which they were written. This was truly terrible. Boring - I only finished it to see if it improved in the last chapter...it didn't. Patricia Cornwell needs to rethink this series of books and make Scarpetta and co great again!

End of a series?
I am new to Patricia Cornwell and must say that the first Scarpetta novel I read had me gripped from beginning to end - in that one, Lucy was only a child. Book of the Dead is way down the line in terms of character development and clearly I need to read some of the intermediate stories to catch up, which is disappointing in a way because whilst linkage is necessary books should also be readable in isolation which is not possible with Book of the Dead as the reader is always left wondering about the untold details that are alluded to, such as Scarpetta's relationship with Benton. What is great about this novel is the level of detail into forensic matters. What is not so good is how the pace doesn't really pick up until the very end that the explanation is not convincing.

I will read the other Scarpetta novels but think that Ms Cornwell needs to consider whether the Scarpetta series needs to end with one final case that has depth, ties up ends and leaves the reader satiated.