Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell

Publisher: Penguin Group
Pages: 512


From the cover: Leaving behind her private forensic pathology practice in Charleston, South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta takes up an assignment in New York City, where the NYPD has asked her to examine an injured patient on Bellevue Hospital's psychiatric ward.......

When Benton calls Kay to make an unexpected trip to New York, at the request of a suspect, Kay is baffled. She deals with the dead, Benton deals with the living. Also in New York is her niece, Lucy, who hasn't been communicating with her. Pete Marino is also there, after a stay in rehab and with Benton's help, working for D.A. Jamie Berger. Kay hasn't seen Marino since South Carolina and physical abuse she endured at his hands. She hasn't been doing too much since the death of Rose and her marriage to Benton. With her new job, CNN, and John Jay College, she just hasn't had the time. Now, she is involved in an investigation that may lead to her own destruction, both physical and professional. Someone is leaking stories about her to Gotham Gotcha, an online gossip site. The story unfolds with the murder of a young woman, Terri Bridges, and with her boyfriend, Oscar Bane, the only suspect in the murder. Oscar claims his innocence to Kay but she doesn't know if he's truthful or misleading. Bane is clearly paranoid, has caused his own injuries, and rambling almost to the point of being random. Who could know his thoughts, follow his movements, and make it look like he killed Terri? Detective Morales also works for Jamie Berger, although how she became saddled with him is unknown. He's rude and answers to no one. Berger has also been in contact with Lucy to use her new forensic programming to help with cybercrimes, as well as to confront the attraction between them, but as time will tell, Lucy may be the answer to all their problems. Can Lucy help save her aunt Kay, Jamie Berger, or even herself? And who is killing seemingly unrelated persons?

Patricia Cornwell, as always, has written a great crime novel. Scarpetta is the sixteenth book in the Scarpetta Series. She brings all of her reliable characters back into the story to tackle these mysterious deaths. It is a gripping, spellbinding read that keeps you turning pages right until the end of the last page, and leaves you wanting more. Visit Ms. Cornwell's site @ http://www.patriciacornwell.com/ for more information about all of her great books.