A Scarpetta Mystery, No19
Patricia Cornwell
G.P. Putnam Sons
Dec 6th, 2011 / ISBN: 978-0-399-15802-5
Mystery
Amazon
Reviewed
by Elise Cooper
New York Time·s Best-Selling author Patricia
Cornwell once again has a hit novel. Red Mist is the 19th book in
the Kay Scarpetta series. Cornwell originated the modern-day forensic
thriller twenty years ago with her first novel in this series, Postmortem.
Cornwell uses her experiences to formulate realistic
plots. She commented on CNN that because she was sexually abused
by a female when she was a child most of the villains in her stories
are women. Some of her many credentials are: the former Director
of Applied Forensic Science at the National Forensic Academy, to
founding the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine.
With these credentials the reader knows they are getting an author
who is informed and knowledgeable. Cornwell has stated that she
is not content with sitting back but keeps up with the latest forensic
techniques, working with law enforcement and forensic professionals
since ·it is important to me to live in the world I write
about· If I want a character to do or know something, I want
to do or know the same thing.· This is evident in Red Mist
since the science and techniques used in the book have a very real
feel and are easily understandable.
This book·s plot picks up where the previous
one left off. What Dr. Kay Scarpetta, the Chief Medical Examiner
and Director at the new Cambridge Forensic Center in Massachusetts,
discovers is that the death of her assistant, Jack Fielding, and
the attempt on her own life were only the beginning of a string
of vicious murders and possible biological warfare. Determined to
find out what happened to her former deputy chief murdered six months
earlier, Scarpetta travels to the Georgia Prison for Women, where
an inmate, Kathleen Lawler, has information not only on Fielding,
but also on a string of violent killings. Cornwell brilliantly intertwines
the murder of an Atlanta family years ago, a young woman on death
row, and the inexplicable deaths of those she has come into contact
with. For those who have never read a book in this series Cornwell
has a very detailed first half of the book, rehashing and explaining
the characters and plot.
The villains are well defined: Kathleen Lawler,
who sexually molested a boy, Jack Fielding, Dawn Kincaid, the ·love
child· conceived by Fielding and Lawler, and Lola Daggette,
who is on death row for the killing of the Atlanta family. In the
book Lawler is described as ··remorseless and pitiless,
completely lacking in empathy for anyone·· Cornwell
balances that description with the victims who are described as
having ·no rights while they·re being victimized and
few rights during the slow, tedious grind of the criminal justice
process. The injuries don·t heal but continue to be inflicted,
by lawyers, by the media, by jurors, by witnesses who testify that
someone like me had it coming or caused it.·
The heroine of the book, Scarpetta, comes across
as capable and confident in her work, highly committed to solving
the murders; yet, in her personal life appears to have self doubts,
and often becomes introspective. The guilt she feels about going
away angry is something any reader can identify with and Cornwell
skillfully points out ·the dead talk. Everything predicated
on the possibility of someone dying or something that could cause
death·Don·t go away after arguing. What if the person
gets killed in a car wreck or struck by lightning or blows an aneurysm?·
The supporting cast for Scarpetta, her husband,
niece, and co-worker, seem like they were just afterthoughts. They
did not have a strong role in the book and were not as well defined
as the other characters referred to earlier.
There is a
lot of detective work, connection of dots, and mystery involved
in this novel. The first part of the book is used to formulate the
plot and characters while the latter half is very riveting. Overall
this was an interesting book with intrigue and suspense.
Reviews of other titles in this series
The
Last Precinct # 11
Red
Mist #19
Flesh
and Blood #22
Depraved
Heart #23
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