Livid: The new Kay Scarpetta thriller from the No.1 bestseller

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The references ultimately seem pointless. As for the plot of the book, it’s meandering, relying on reams of dialogue to drive it but which instead confuse the reader.

Way too much time spent on the scientific research, which overwhelms and almost drowns out the story at time.

This book starts out with a trial that Kay is an expert witness but is being treated like -well, I just don't know how to describe it, but it sure isn't with any respect! This trial has a lot to do with today's political climate in the USA. Clever detective work uncovers the perpetrator(s) AND exposes corrupt and malicious behavior in Virginia political circles.

The first few chapters were hard going due to the obnoxious prosecutor. You know that they have to try their utmost but he took the phrase "adversarial legal system" extremely literally. The overarching plot was good & I particularly liked how the different crime scenes were eventually tied together. All the main characters of the core group were involved: Scarpetta, Benton, Marino, & Lucy, & there were a few new ones too. It just seemed a little clinical & little familiar - the machinations of a boss who dislikes her, earlier cases now under revision - you would think Scarpetta had earned a little trust & respect by now. I'll keep reading these as long as they keep being released, but I feel they've lost the heart & soul of what they were originally. I've re-read the first five or six books many times, but I'm not sure I will re-read the later ones as often. 3.5 stars (rounded up). Cornwell is also good at reflecting readers' emotions around the hard career of dealing with dead bodies. Just like her previous outing – “Autopsy” – the structure of the novel was the same. Everything takes place over a period of less than 48 hours. It is all slammed together in a wham-bam-thank-you-reader storytelling experience.

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It’s also far too coincidental — the judge’s murdered sister was having an affair with the aforementioned, career-driven lawyer Flagler, for example. Cornwell is best when detailing a crime scene and how a pathologist might work or look for. It’s just a pity that that’s not enough for a crime thriller to, well, thrill. determine that Rachel was killed with a microwave gun. It seems someone stood outside and blasted radiation into the house, which fried Rachael's brain and killed her. Forensic pathologist Dr. Kay Scarpetta is a reluctant star witness in a sensational televised murder trial. Two years ago, a former beauty queen’s body washed up on the shore of Wallops Island, Virginia. She was last seen on a boat with her fiancé, who has since been held in jail while awaiting trial. Kay Scarpetta is an expert witness for the case where another forensic pathologist had previously bungled the investigation. Following an arduous cross-examination by the prosecutor, Scarpetta leaves the court only to discover that the sister of the judge on her case has been found dead. funding scholarships and literacy programs. Her advice to aspiring authors: “Start writing. And don’t take no for an answer.”