#1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Cornwell returns with the remarkable twenty-fourth thriller in her popular high-stakes series starring medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta.In the quiet of twilight, on an early autumn day, twenty-six-year-old Elisa Vandersteel is killed while riding her bicycle along the Charles River. It appears she was struck by lightning–except the weather is perfectly clear with not a cloud in sight. Dr. Kay Scarpetta, the Cambridge Forensic Center’s director and chief, decides at the scene that this is no accidental Act of God.Her investigation becomes complicated when she begins receiving a flurry of bizarre poems from an anonymous cyberbully who calls himself Tailend Charlie. Though subsequent lab results support Scarpetta’s conclusions, the threatening messages don’t stop. When the tenth poem arrives exactly twenty-four hours after Elisa’s death, Scarpetta begins to suspect the harasser is involved, and sounds the alarm to her investigative partner Pete Marino and her husband, FBI analyst Benton Wesley.She also enlists the help of her niece, Lucy. But to Scarpetta’s surprise, tracking the slippery Tailend Charlie is nearly impossible, even for someone as brilliant as her niece. Also, Lucy can’t explain how this anonymous nemesis could have access to private information. To make matters worse, a venomous media is whipping the public into a frenzy, questioning the seasoned forensics chief’s judgment and “a quack cause of death on a par with spontaneous combustion.”
Wanted MORE! Wanted MORE! Can’t wait for new Scarpetta books. I read them way to fast and then Patricia always leaves me wanting more! Loved this one! It was great as a stand alone but so much better because I have read all the previous books and knew the history of the characters. It’s like seeing old friends!
Much better then the last Scarpetta novel Finally a Scarpetta novel that delves more into the familiar forensic crime stories I have come to love. Not a slow paced plodder like Depraved Heart. There is family bickering, but not as dark as the last few novels. Kaye’s arch enemy Carrie Grethen is back and even more depraved then ever. I will not spoil the story for anyone, but there is a surprising twist at the very end. A whole new storyline has been opened up for future novels. Great read.
Save yourself. Don’t read this book I chose this rating because Dr. Kay Scarpetta has become a thoroughly unlikable character. She is flat out mean, judgemental and a snob. Two thirds of the book consists of the incessant interior monologue she has with herself and it consists of: two pages of inane mean comments about the ‘plain’ looks of a policewoman who is trying to be of assistance. But she isn’t good enough for the Doc and instead berates her. Methinks Scarpetta aka Patricia Cornwell, secretly hates women. Probably hates…