Title: LividAuthor: Patricia Cornwell
Series: Kay Scarpetta #26
Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Oct. 25, 2022
Genres: Mystery/Thriller
Pages: 368
Format: Hardcover
Source: Grand Central Publishing
Book Rating: 8/10
In this thrilling new installment of Patricia Cornwell’s #1 bestselling series, chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta finds herself a reluctant star witness in a sensational televised murder trial causing chaos in Old Town Alexandria with the threat of violent protests.
Forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta has just inherited one of the most notorious cases of her career. 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.
Scarpetta must act as the expert witness for the case—an investigation previously botched by another forensic pathologist. After a grueling 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.
Scarpetta ultimately finds herself facing a powerful, invisible enemy who’s planning the unthinkable.
Review:
Intricate, menacing, and sophisticated!
In this twenty-sixth instalment in the Kay Scarpetta series, Livid, Cornwell has written an ominous thriller that sees Virginia’s Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta not only testifying in the April Tupelo volatile trial but also investigating the bizarre murder of CIA employee Rachael Stanwyck, sister of her close friend Judge Annie Chilton, that as it unfolds also seems strangely connected to a failed assassination attempt on the President, the brutal murder of a beloved local market owner and the suicide of a Tidewater medical examiner.
The writing is descriptive and brisk. The characters are intuitive, knowledgeable, and persistent. And the plot is a well-paced, cleverly plotted tale full of mischief, mayhem, coercion, corruption, criminal behaviours, dangerous endeavours, crime scene analysis, secrets, deduction, lies, terrorists, and murder.
Overall, Livid is another action-packed, intriguing, sinister tale by Cornwell that I am sure will be a solid, satisfying, entertaining read for any long-standing fans of the series.
This book is available now.
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Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
About Patricia Cornwell
In 1990, Patricia Cornwell sold her first novel, Postmortem, while working at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. An auspicious debut, it went on to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity Awards, as well as the French Prix du Roman d’Aventures—the first book ever to claim all these distinctions in a single year. Growing into an international phenomenon, the Scarpetta series won Cornwell the Sherlock Award for best detective created by an American author, the Gold Dagger Award, the RBA Thriller Award, and the Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters for her contributions to literary and artistic development. Today, Cornwell’s novels and iconic characters are known around the world. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Cornwell has written the definitive nonfiction account of Jack the Ripper’s identity, cookbooks, a children’s book, a biography of Ruth Graham, and three other fictional series based on the characters Win Garano, Andy Brazil, and Captain Callie Chase. In recent years, Cornwell has been researching space-age technologies at NASA facilities, the U.S. Space Force, and Secret Service. She’s visited Scotland Yard and Interpol, always keeping up with what’s current. Cornwell was born in Miami. She grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston.
Photo Credit: Patrick Ecclesine
