| Product: |
Postmortem - Patricia Cornwell |
| Date: |
06/01/08 (67 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: good plot, catches your attention
Disadvantages: some characters are too thin
Recently many of the books Ive been reading are ones Ive had for some time in yet another attempt to clear space on my bookcases (so I can then clear a space on my floor), some I read were as terrible as I remembered while others were actually much better. Postmortem is one of the better ones.
Patricia Cornwells charater Dr Kay Scarpetta has become one of the most popular female characters being written today and currently there are 15 books featuring her with this the first being published in 1990, yet despite this it doesnt feel as 'old' as some novels written around the same period.
Our first meeting with Scarpetta sees her being called in the middle of the night to attend a death scene. She is the Chief Medical Officer for the city of Richmond, a city which is being terrorised by a serial killer. Someone is breaking in to the homes of lone women in the middle of Friday nights and killing them, there is no apparent link between the women killed other than that they seem to live alone, one was black, the others white, none have overlapping careers or personal lives so just how is this killer choosing his targets? And who has been breaking in to the databases in her office, and potentially leaking confidential information to the press?
While trying to assist the police in establishing a link between victims to try and protect other women, Kay has to defend both herself and her department from the accusations from the 'other side of the street'. In her home life she is also caring for her sisters daughter Lucy, a ten year old who relies on her for the stability Kays sister cannot provide and her relationship with Bill Boltz is going nowhere discernable.
For a book which introduces us to a new set of characters it is easy to believe the characters and throughout the book we get to know them in a way which feels natural and leaves room for further character development in future books.
The plot holds your attention and the twists arent predictable for the most part, the final twist is also one I didnt see coming which so often lets otherwise good books down. At 404 pages long its a decent length read and can be bought from most online retailers for around £3.
If you've not read any of the Cornwell novels featuring Scarpetta then this is a good place to start - as the beginning of a series so often is.
Summary: read it if you like forensic/medical crime
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