Dr. Kay Scarpetta plunges into the murky depths of a ship graveyard to recover the very human remains of Ted Eddings, an investigative reporter. Together with her niece Lucy and police captain Pete Marino, Scarpetta will follow the scents of death and violence to the heart of sinister darkness.*San Francisco Chronicle
Always enjoy Patricia Cornwell’s books. Keep you guessing to the end.
I love everything in the Scarpetta series.
Great series
Another great book by a great author.
The Scarpetta series is always interesting, some with more twists and turns than others.
The only drawback for me is that I find most of them depressing.
Couldn’t get into this book, and I love Patricia Cornwell’s Scarpetta books. Not up to her usual good work.
This book was just missing an ending. We had this huge long lead up that was AMAZING. It ended just so abruptly that I felt jipped. This story was so unique and had so many different layers that it made it so addicting! I truly think this could have been a 5+ star book if it had a more finished end.
Kay really put herself out there at a completely different level in this one. It was really exhilarating!! I loved seeing so much more of Lucy and Janet too. Their part in Kay’s life is so crucial, so I love that Lucy is in this book more. I also loved seeing this more vulnerable side of Marino too, it was interesting to see!
Book Review
Cause of Death is the 7th book in the “Kay Scarpetta” thriller and mystery series by award-winning author Patricia Cornwell. I’ve read about 2/3 of the series and now returning to write reviews on everything I’ve read in the hopes it’ll push me to pick up the series again in the coming weeks.
For those new to the series, Scarpetta is a Virginia-based medical examiner, but eventually she moves around a bit over the course of the 20+ book series. She’s sharp, witty and tough. She’s had strong ties with the police and the FBI, as well as been on the outs with them over her career. She’s been the targeted victim by a few of the serial killers she’s helped to trap and capture. She’s not married for most of the books, but has a boyfriend for a while. Her niece Lucy helps her solve crimes on occasion. And her cop friend Pete Marino was in love with her at one point. Some of this may have changed after book 13/14 when I temporarily stopped. I stopped because I felt like I needed a new character to focus on, a different set of stories in a different place, but they are still all generally good books.
Cause of Death was one of the average books. Scarpetta’s involved in more intrigue than usual, with international situations, and she’s also filling in for a fellow ME on New Year’s Eve when she is summoned to look at a dead body. The funny thing… she knows about it before the police do. Now who is after her? There are multiple story angles in this one, and Cornwell got too technical for me. I love to learn when I read, but I also don’t want to have to look stuff up in an encyclopedia or online. By today’s standards, some of this is more common knowledge, but over a decade ago, she was ahead of the curve.
While still a good story, it’s not my favorite and I wouldn’t recommend this one to start with if you’re interested in the series.
couldn’t get into it. too sluggish a start…. I used to like her books, but they take too long to get started.
Excellent, Could not put down
I’ve enjoyed every Scarpetty novel written.