Review: Autopsy

Autopsy by Patricia Cornwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
4.5 Stars

I haven't read a Kay Scarpetta book in many years, and the feeling I had gotten after reading the reviews for her last couple of books made me question reading this one.  However, I'm glad I did.

If you will notice from the Amazon recap and the publishers' website, this is a relaunch of the series. (Quoted from Amazon) "In this <b>relaunch</b> of the electrifying, landmark #1 bestselling thriller series, chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta hunts those responsible for two wildly divergent and chilling murders."  And I can certainly see why they are calling this book a relaunch. The old Kay is back right along with most of her other beloved characters. It has been 5 years since her last book in this series, and this novel shows that jump quite well. We are still in the middle of the Covid pandemic; though the political parties aren't named, we see the ravages of current politics in this novel.

There are enough twists and turns to keep any mystery lover happy, a lot of inner angsting that will make most readers unhappy (although some of the best dialogue comes about in this manner), enough red herrings to keep you on your toes and for the pièce de résistance, we even have an encounter in space that needs Kays special talents!

My one problem, and I'm not sure if she had done this in her previous novels, is that Ms. Cornwell gives the ending short shrift. Although this could be considered a mini-cliff hanger, we shall see.

I'm already ready for the next book and I am going to go read the entire series even if the tech in some of them is dated!

*ARC is supplied by the publisher William Morrow, the author, and NetGalley. Many thanks.

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SYNOPSIS: "Forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta has returned to Virginia as the chief medical examiner. Finding herself the new girl in town once again after being away for many years, she’s inherited an overbearing secretary and a legacy of neglect and possible corruption.

She and her husband Benton Wesley, now a forensic psychologist with the U.S. Secret Service, have relocated to Old Town Alexandria where she’s headquartered five miles from the Pentagon in a post-pandemic world that’s been torn by civil and political unrest. Just weeks on the job, she’s called to a scene by railroad tracks where a woman’s body has been shockingly displayed, her throat cut down to the spine, and as Scarpetta begins to follow the trail, it leads unnervingly close to her own historic neighborhood.

At the same time, a catastrophe occurs in a top secret private laboratory in outer space, and at least two scientists aboard are found dead. Appointed to the highly classified Doomsday Commission that specializes in sensitive national security cases, Scarpetta is summoned to the White House Situation Room and tasked with finding out what happened. But even as she works the first crime scene in space remotely, an apparent serial killer strikes again. And this time, Scarpetta could be in greater danger than ever before.

In this latest novel in her groundbreaking Kay Scarpetta series, Patricia Cornwell captivates readers with the shocking twists, high-wire tension, and forensic detail that she is famous for, proving once again why she’s the world’s #1 bestselling crime writer. "