Autopsy

A Scarpetta Novel

By: Patricia Cornwell

Narrated by: Susan Ericksen

Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times Best Seller

In this relaunch of the electrifying, landmark number one best-selling thriller series, chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta hunts those responsible for two wildly divergent and chilling murders.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Kay Scarpetta has come almost full circle, returning to Virginia, the state where she launched her storied career, as the chief medical examiner. Finding herself the new girl in town once again after being away for many years, she’s inherited both an overbearing secretary and a legacy of neglect and potential corruption.

She and her husband, Benton Wesley, now a forensic psychologist with the US Secret Service, have relocated to Old Town Alexandria, where she’s headquartered five miles from the Pentagon in a post-pandemic world that’s been torn apart by civil and political unrest. After just weeks on the job, she’s called to a scene by railroad tracks - a woman’s body has been shockingly displayed, her throat cut down to the spine - and as Scarpetta begins to follow the trail, it leads unnervingly close to her own historic neighborhood.

At the same time, a catastrophe occurs in a top secret labo­ratory in outer space, endangering at least two scientists aboard. Appointed to the highly classified Doomsday Commission that specializes in sensitive national security cases, Scarpetta is summoned to the White House and tasked with finding out exactly what happened. But even as she remotely works the first potential crime scene in space, an apparent serial killer strikes again very close to home.

This latest novel in the groundbreaking Kay Scarpetta series captivates listeners with the shocking twists, high-wire tension, and forensic detail that Patricia Cornwell is famous for, proving once again why she’s the world’s number one best-selling crime writer.

©2021 Patricia Cornwell (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Underwhelming

I love the Scarpetta series and this book is disappointingly boring. Not bad. Not great. Having the same narrator for Eve Dallas and Kay Scarpetta is a big mistake and I had to remind myself more than once which series I was listening to.

Funny accents

She narrates the story well. I just don’t understand why she lends a NY or country accent to Northern Virginians. I’m a native NoVa’er and we don’t talk like that.

Autopsy

Not as good as past Scarpetta novels Something was missing in the telling of this story.

autopsy

was a great scarpetta novel but felt it was too quick. book ended before it really got started.

excellent as usual.

I very much enjoy Patricia Cornwell the only negative I can report is that it was completed in a weekend. I am always searching for the next best. This novel was relatively fast paced and kept my attention which can be difficult to do sometimes. I felt the presentation was excellent as well I am only disappointed that it's over.

This one deserves a ten star review!

The author pulls the reader right back into Kay's life. It is like coming home to old friends, with all the harsh reality of today's world tossed in. Be prepared to learn some new things as you listen in and enjoy the ride!

The best Scarpetta in years!

I really enjoyed most of her previous books, but I gradually became disenchanted as Scarpetta became more and more strident and intolerant. This book returns to the original, enjoyable character who has mellowed somewhat with age and family. She's still a brilliant investigator, but her level of paranoia has mellowed also. After all, you're not really paranoid if someone is really after you.
PS: There's not much gory stuff in this story, perhaps because Kay doesn't actually perform any autopsies.

She is back.

I was so pleased that this was a Scarpetta novel. I have read every book in this series. Patricia Cornwell is one of my favorite authors but I could not get into her last two books, in her new series

Love the Scarpetta Series and the Characters

Did not care for the initial narration; however, the narrator relaxed as the book progressed. This Scarpetta novel was a little harder to get into but things picked up about halfway through and then I couldn't put it down. Looking forward to the next Scarpetta adventure. I have been reading these books for years and gave grown older with Kay Scarpetta. Patricia Cornwell keeps her storyline current. I am originally from Richmond VA, attended VCU and lived on the MCV campus; the references to places in Richmond and in VA in these novelS have deep meaning for me.

Terrific until the end

Ending left me wondering - it seemed flat & needed another paragraph at least, suddenly the flow was gone.