Body of Evidence

Well written with enough plot and subplots to keep you adequately baffled and a climax which is brief but well played. I also appreciated the book's technical aspects as Cornwell's heroine, Dr Scarpetta, pores over the evidence...who knew a bit of textile fibre could be so telling? The only drawback for me was her sidekick, Officer Marino, his character a grating, paper thin caricature of a hard-nosed meathead replete with homophobic slurs and the grammatical flair of a particularly dense 8-year old: "You'se guys" and "We was comin' to the office" for example. It got tired really fast.

First read: c. 2005
Re-read: August 2015

Plot: Scarpetta and Marino must track down the stalker/ killer of a talented young writer, while at the same time a romantic interest from Kay's past makes an appearance and seems more involved in the case Kay is investigating than it first appears.

What I liked:

- Opening of the novel with the letters written by Beryl, they are lovely and descriptive.
- The literary themed mystery. I thought some of the scenes seemed to be an homage to Agatha Christie's mysteries for example the death of Sterling Harper which took place almost right under Kay's nose and the island scene where Kay investigates on her own.
I also thought Cary Harper- the Pulitzer prize winning novelist who only wrote one book which show more was about racism in the deep south - was a clear (although male) parody of Harper Lee, which is something I didn't pick up on ten years ago when I first read the book. Considering some of the scandals surrounding the fictitious Cary Harper I wonder why Cornwell chose to base the character on Harper Lee? It makes me want to read more about Harper Lee's life to see if the similarities between them are more than just superficial.
- I like that Kay was more friendly to Marino in this book and acknowledges everything he did for her at the end of Postmortem.

What I disliked:

- I don't understand why each book has to end with the killer becoming obsessed with Kay and trying to kill her in the same way he murdered his previous victims. It happened in Postmortem and again in Body of Evidence. I would think Kay would be traumatised as a result of all the attempted murders against her!
- Mark betrayed Kay's trust, set her up in a confrontation with a man who tried to ruin her professionally and she still sleeps with him at the end of the novel. The novel ends with the hint that Mark might become a permanent love interest in the series, but as this is a re-read for me, I know better :)
- no Lucy in this instalment, and only a few cameos by Benton :(

Overall rating: 4/5 stars. show less

Una Kay Scarpetta agli albori della serie, ma già capo medico legale a Richmond. Benton è soltanto una conoscenza, Marino ha un brutto carattere ma ha ancora la sua famiglia, Lucy Farinelli è ancora piccola. Ma Kay è fedele a se stessa, si lancia sempre con passione in un caso e, come le rinfaccia il suo capo, rischia di farsi travolgere. Troppe e troppo strane sono le tracce in questo delitto: come mai Beryl ha aperto al suo assassino? E' davvero implicata la mafia? Il grande amore di Kay è buono o cattivo? E quelle maledette fibre arancioni, sono indice di un intrigo internazionale o sono da riferirsi a qualcosa di più semplice? Frankie chi è? Vittima o carnefice?
Kay riuscirà a sbrogliare la matassa e trovare un senso agli show more omicidi che fanno seguito al primo, pur rischiando la vita lei stessa. Danni collaterali: l'auto nuova fiammante di Marino e lo scoiattolo che finisce incenerito nel rogo della stessa. show less

Kay Scarpetta, forensische Pathologin, bekommt die Leiche der jungen, hübschen Schriftstellerin Beryl Madison auf den Tisch: Nachdem ihr Mörder dutzende Male auf sie eingestochen hatte, schnitt er ihr fast den Kopf ab - ein Verrückter? Beryl wurde offenbar schon Monate zuvor von einem Unbekannten verfolgt, ohne dass es von Anderen allzu ernst genommen wurde. Als Kays Verflossener, für den sie noch mehr empfindet als ihr lieb ist, sich nach Jahren überraschend bei ihr meldet und Informationen zu Beryl anbietet, wird ihr Interesse an diesem Fall noch mehr geweckt. Doch je intensiver sie sich damit beschäftigt, desto mehr bringt sie sich selbst in Schwierigkeiten und Gefahr. Ein Manuskript der Autorin, für dessen Verschwinden Kay show more verantwortlich gemacht wird, bringt ihr unangenehme Schlagzeilen in der Presse und eine Anzeige. Zudem scheint plötzlich sie in das Visier des Mörders geraten zu sein: Sie erhält merkwürdige Telefonanrufe, es wird bei ihr eingebrochen, ein Wagen vor ihrem Haus geht in Flammen auf...
Sehr spannend geschrieben mit allerlei überraschenden Wendungen, nichts ist so wie es auf den ersten Blick erscheint. Sämtliche Hinweise - und derer gibt es viele - werden bis zum Ende des Buches geklärt, nichts bleibt offen. Wirklich gute Krimiunterhaltung. show less

This was my intro into the world of Kay Scarpetta and while it was interesting it was rather predictable. The "Killer" was of no interest to me and the story becomes almost too staged for there to be any real suspense. However, Kay and Marino are very interesting characters whose opposing personalties blend well. I am a Patricia Cornwell fan now and would love to see how her writing has progressed.

The heroine is Dr. Kay Scarpetta, the Chief Medical Examiner in Virginia. Oh, no, you say, another Ouincv. Wrong, corpse-breath. Scarpetta is intelligent, short, (we don't know whether she is attractive or not, a relief) and she doesn't swoon over each drooling Sylvester Stallone imitation that happens by. (That's something I've always wondered about: How does Travis McGee, the blue-Rolls-Royce-truck-driving hero of John MacDonald's colored-titled novels avoid AIDS, since he seems to have the self-restraint of a male nymphomaniac?
Anyway, Scarpetta is investigating the murder of a well-known novelist who has returned from the Florida Keys where she has been hiding from someone who keeps threatening to kill her. The night of her return show more she inexplicably opens the door to the murderer who does just that. The plot thickens as her former boyfriend, a lawyer, appears on the scene worried about her safety and to prevent her (he says) from crossing swords with a crooked entertainment lawyer (redundancy?) who desperately wants the victim's last manuscript. The book is filled with fascinating detail such as the difference between dextromethorphan and levomethorpan which has to do with right and left and why one is legal and the other not. Enough about the plot. show less

After reading the first book in the series, I felt good enough to want to read the second book sooner rather than later. Book two is fashioned out of some of the basic framework as the first but with enough changes to the facade that it really doesn't detract too much from the story.

Most of the same characters are back for this installment with some new players thrown in. The forensics play along and provide physical clues to go along with the psychological clues. Like the first book, we are given plenty of clues to figure out the twist and don't feel like we've been cheated when it is revealed. As with the first book, I like that we only see what Kay sees and nothing more or less.

Kay Scarpetta, we learn, will always be very *involved* show more with her work and that will always play havoc with her personal life. Even this early in the series, that thread is obvious. Fortunately, even though this running thread is becoming concrete and will remain in future books, it doesn't overwhelm the main story.

The plot of this one is a little more convoluted than the first. There are several interweaving plots that connect or seem to connect and they provide us with quite a bit of depth in the mystery. What starts out fairly straightforward quickly becomes messy and confusing (on purpose) but comes together fairly nicely at the end.

For a second novel, this one does well and doesn't fall into many of the traps and pitfalls that are out there and because of that, I'll be reading the third. show less