Dust

Kay Scarpetta, Book 21

By: Patricia Cornwell

Narrated by: Lorelei King

The body of a woman has been discovered inside the gates of MIT, draped in an unusual cloth. An examination reveals that the body is covered in a fine dust that under ultra-violet light fluoresces blood-red, emerald-green and sapphire-blue. As Kay Scarpetta pieces together the evidence, she draws herself and her team deeper into the dark world of designer drugs, drone technology and shocking corruption at the highest level.

©2013 Cornwell Entetainment Ltd (P)2014 W F Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"America’s most stimulating and chilling writer of Crime fiction." ( The Times)
"A perfectly formed thriller." ( Sun)

Enjoyable enough but ...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

If you've been with the Scarpetta series for this long, you may want to read this too. I don't think it's the best in the series but it's what we've got. I found it enjoyable enough.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The plot was interesting enough for me to stay with. The familiar characters are here. Some unfamiliar criminal types are also here and they're mildly interesting without being particularly compelling. In the recent novels Scarpetta seems either less angry or more world-weary, or both. Having said that, this novel conveys genuine anger about Newtown. It also expresses objections to so-called spectacle murders, which seems ironic given the contribution of the earlier Scarpetta novels to the forensic crime genre, which in its screen equivalents does involve spectacle.

What three words best describe Lorelei King’s performance?

Well read, predictable.

Could you see Dust being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I think of a younger Glenn Close as Scarpetta. Jennifer Lawrence would be her niece. The late James Gandolfini could have been Marino, but I'm not sure who would be best in the role now. As for Benton .... ? Also, on second thoughts, I'm not sure this cast would be so great together ... would like to know how other readers respond to this question.

Any additional comments?

Recent Scarpetta novels have received bad to mixed reviews. At this stage in the series, anyone who knows the earlier novels can decide for themselves how interested they are in persevering. Those unfamiliar with the novels should start with the early instalments.

Why do I keep hoping and wasting money ..

I keep hoping to re-capture my initial love of the stories from this author, however it does not happen. This story line is weak; continual complaints about her family; going over and over old decisions and past positions held; .... kindly have someone kill-off Kay and be done with it!
Never again will I purchase another Scarpetta saga.