I found the first in the Scarpetta series to be slow building and fast ending. There was hardly any build up to the conclusion and subsequent solving of the crime.

I also found that the book contained a lot of small details about technology which was used, where other areas where skimmed over.

The book was enough for me to attempt the second in the series. ( )

2000

With all her success it would be foolish of me to say I didn't like this book. I did like it, as I do most of Cornwell's work, but there was a certain suspense missing, no fault of the author's. One of the disadvantages of reading the first installment of a series after having read several other volumes is that the reader knows the main characters aren't in any real danger; the knowledge that they will be, at the most, slightly injured if at all lends a feeling of safety to an otherwise thrilling adventure. ( )

Year after year after year, I have been at either a book store or grocery store book rack and have perused the back cover of a Patricia Cornwell, Scarpetta novel. Yet each time I put it back and never made the purchase. I am not sure why this was the case, her premises and storylines always seemed engaging, yet I never read one of her books. This year I promised myself I would read one (or more) of these books. I even collected a half a dozen of them through Bookmooch and from my local library book sales. Well when I looked at the calendar and saw the year was coming to a close, I felt it was time to pick one up.

I decided to start from the beginning with Cornwell's debut Scarpetta novel. Overall it was an engaging story that tracks an intelligent serial killer who doesn't leave to many tracks. The complexity of solving the case becomes even more difficult when someone close to the investigation is leaking key information to the media. As Dr. Scarpetta gets closer to solving the case, she also gets closer to risking her own life.

This book was a solid read, and it was interesting to see how far forensic science has come in 20 years. Back when this book was published the use of DNA testing to solve a crime was in its infancy, and therefore wasn't always a homerun for standing up in court. ( )

After reading this and seeing the publication date (1992) I really wonder how much the CSI franchise was influenced by it. Cornwell did a large amount of research before writing this book, and I appreciated her attention to detail. She's a meticulous writer, much as I regard Tom Clancy to be.

The book was a very quick read, and I had two frustrations with it. While well written, I had hoped to see more about our characters. Secondly, I was frustrated by the heroine being (predictably) at the mercy of the mystery villain only to be saved by a cop who has too much free time on his hands. ( )