Any Kay Scarpetta fans out there? Have you read the new book, Scarpetta?

Patricia Cornwell's newest Kay Scarpetta book, Scarpetta, was great! I have to say, I got a little annoyed by the series somewhere around book 7 or 8, but this one (#16) really is worth casting an eye over if you like Cornwell's stuff. Take a look at a review of it here: http://www.examiner.com/x-562-Book-Examiner~y2008m12d2-Review-of-Scarpetta-the-1...

Thanks for the info. Just like you, I got a little exasperated with them and had quit reading. I'll pick this one up and give it a try.

I can hardly wait for this book. I love Kay Scarpetta. But I number 23 on the ist so it will be a long wait.

I just finished this book a few days ago. As everyone else, I had sworn off the series. But I highly recommend this one. Kay Scarpetta is back with a vengenance, and Lucy too! I read this book in about two days, and didn't want to stop. Hopefully, Kay is back and better than ever! Merry Christmas!

Glad to hear you liked this one. I'm one book behind but I've read all of the rest of them. I had the same reaction to the middle books and almost quit reading them but decided to stick with it a little longer. Glad I did too! I look forward to the new one.

I have a request for it at the library. Glad to hear you liked it. I agree, some of the last of the series just didn't read that well. I stuck out the series so this one should be a treat!

I'm glad to hear that I wasn't the only one who stopped reading the last few of this series, but since it sounds like they are picking up again, I guess I'm going to have to jump back on the Cornwell bandwagon and catch up.

I have avoided buying this book as I have been so dissapointed with the last few in the series. Perhaps it's time to reserve it at the libary before committing myself to buying it. I'm supposed to be cutting back on the number od books bought this year.

I too am cutting back on the number of books that I am buying. That doesn't mean I'm not visiting the bookstore, Sometimes I find something new and then I look for it in the library.

I was happy to find this thread, I used to read the Kay Scarpetta series faithfully and I remember becoming dissapointed in the series except, I forgot where I left off with them! I have Trace, The Last Precinct, Predator, At Risk and Black Notice sitting on the shelves, and I felt pretty bad for ignoring them. Now thanks to this post I will read or reread (who knows) and look forward to reading the latest book in the series.

#9 cyderry... I admire your self-discipline. I, too, must curb my spending on books just now, and thought that to bar myself from entering bookshops altogether was the only answer, but I'll try your method of looking for interesting titles in the shop then borrowing the book from the local library. I have a sinking feeling that this might not work for me, and would appreciate any advice on how to *not* pick up the book and go straight to the check-out cash(or card)-in-hand.

Scarpetta definitely comes from the library. I'm not ready to risk another disappointment from Cornwell.

and would appreciate any advice on how to *not* pick up the book and go straight to the check-out cash(or card)-in-hand

Leave your wallet at home.

Thanks for your advice sqdancer. Now why didn't I think of that? (That was a rhetorical question, thank you very much.)

#11 Thrin - My discipline is to have limited amount of cash (less than $10) and not to take any credit cards with me when I go into the bookstore. It's hard but it works. Instead I take a large pad of paper so that I can write down the title and author of any books I see that I wish I could buy. Then when I get home, I attack my computer to find them at the County library or any of the state libraries that I have access to.
I also save all my change and when I have my "piggy bank" full I can cash it in and take the money to buy books but only the Cash that I have!

#14 cyderry - That's an excellent plan. I shall implement it forthwith! Thank you.

#15 Thrin - If anybody at the stores ask you about the list you are making, just say that somebody wanted to buy you some books and you are make a list for them.

#1 and 4 Back to the topic for just a sec, do the middle volumes need to be read to "get" this one, or can I just read it as a stand-alone? I simply cannot bring myself to suffer through any more of them (I stopped with the one where that fed guy (I can't recall his name) returned from the dead, so to speak.)

I have to say that Scarpetta could be the best book written in the history of the genre and I could not be persuaded to read it. I stopped reading her for a few years then gave Cornwell a final chance with her last book, which was so abysmally bad that even an Edgar could not make me pick up another.

I finished reading Scarpetta and enjoyed it very much....so much that I decided to go back to book 1 in the series and read them in order. I finished Postmortem last night...had trouble putting it down. On to the next one...

In addition to using the library, I have recently discovered bookmooch.com. So far, I am in love with it...both for getting rid of old books hanging around and for receiving books I want to read.

I recently finished reading Scarpetta and while it wasn't quite as good as the early ones, it was much better than the middle ones, so I'm glad I read it.

After reading Jefferson Bass who has the Body Farm series, yes the Body Farm from one of Cornwell's novels, I have decided to read the Scarpetta series and have ordered the first book in the series.

As for those who are cutting back on buying books, I suggest Paperbackswap.com. It's a great site for swapping books, you pay just for postage of the books you mail to others. For every book you swap, you earn a credit, which you can then use to order from someone else.

Also there is bookcloseouts.com. It's hit and miss on this site, but if you are patient and do some searching, you can find some decent older books for under $5.

Isn't Paperbackswap US-only?

As #19 says, BookMooch is wonderful (so far I've sent out 795 and received 648 books, to and from people all over the world) - and every time I visit this forum my wishlist gets a little fatter - sigh!

I too became exasperated with Scarpetta, having thoroughly enjoyed the earlier books - her increasing paranoia and general "everyone hates me because I'm wonderful" schtick was driving me mad - but I may put the new one on wishlist and see if it pops up, given what people have said about it!

Spooky - I just popped in to my local charity shop and picked up a copy of Scarpetta for 99p! Here's hoping it was worth it ;-)

Hmmmm. Page 5: "Scarpetta's voice moved at the speed of sound."

Er - is it just me, or is that a completely bizarre sentence? I'll persevere, but so far this book is annoying me just as much as her other recent ones ...

Well.. Bizarre or not at least she got it correct - sound does "move" at the speed of sound :-)

BTW, Every time I see "Scarpetta" a Polish word "skarpeta" comes to my mind. And "skarpeta" is "a sock" :-) I don't think I'll read any of her adventures...

I was lucky enough to get a copy of Scarpetta from Paperbackswap.com and will more then likely read it next. I have been disappointed in the last couple of her books so was not about to go buy this one but when it came available for trade I took advantage of it. Hope it is better then the last couple of books in this series.

I think the series went seriously downhill beginning with Blow Fly - when Benton came back from the dead. I kept swearing I'd never read another, then picking the next one up and getting disappointed all over again. Finally, I deliberately did not finish Scarpetta - now I'll really truly not get any more.

I also hit all the "used" book stores in town.

Used bookstores or thrift stores work for me. I found one in a ritzy part of town that sells new hardbacks. I usually find a plane ticket stub somewhere in the book. People must donate them right after getting home.

I gave up on Patricia Cornwall after "The Body Farm." There was something creepy about what happened to the main characters relationship in that one. I had loved them all up to that one but it just rubbed me the wrong way. I had a friend tell me that this one was more "realistic" and had a more upbeat ending. Of course, not having all of the corpses skinned would be "upbeat" for a Patricia Cornwall story.

Thanks for this thread! I may have been persuaded to request Scarpetta on CD from the library. Let me also affirm that no one should waste their time with The Front or At Risk. Honestly, their only redeeming quality, imo, was that they were very short.