I'm getting very weary of the Carrie Grethen story line. First of all, I really hate to believe that someone so simultaneously brilliant and diabolical exists. And second, it is hard to read hundreds of pages of heart-pounding fear and paranoia. I guess I need to find other authors to meet my need for escape literature until Carrie is really and truly dead.

UG... I'm honestly thinking I should just quit the Scarpetta series... They're getting worse and worse. I think part of the reason is how much time it was between when I read Flesh and Blood (Over a year between them!) and I have the same opinion about this book as I did #22. Scattered thoughts, stunted conversations, things that you have remember from long ago, it just doesn't flow and while things for the most part get wrapped up in the end (IE: what was making the sound, the missing, now dead cop, what happened to Troy, who exactly was Chanel), it just took WAY too long. 500+ pages was absolutely unnecessary. And the absolute lack of Forensic Science (for pete's sake, Scarpetta didn't even do the freaking autopsy!)... This is probably one of Cornwall's worst novel's to date. I want to to give this book 2 stars but it's more like 1.5. I wanted to like it I did but just couldn't.

Pour vrai, ce tome m'a vraiment intrigué jusqu'à la fin, je peux même dire que par moment, j'avais une petite peur. J'ai déjà hâte de me lancer dans le tout dernier tome de la série (malheureusement, je dois être patiente, car il n'était pas disponible à la bibliothèque numérique)

Why do I do this myself and keep reading these disturbing books? I guess I'm just too curious for my own good.

Not my favorite Scarpetta book. Lots of paranoia and really no resolution.

Gripping read throughout but a disappointing ending that feels rushed

I listened to this book on CD. Head's up to the producers... there are several mispronounced words throughout the book (e.g. "viligant" rather than "vigilant."). Beyond that, I spent much of the book thinking that Kay Scarpetta, who used to be interesting, thought an awful lot about herself. It went on and on of her internal, rather narcissistic thought process (being ticked that she's referred to as "ma'am," for example, rather than "Dr."). Slogging through all that, in a 12-CD set, about 10 of the CDs cover about a four-hour period in the book with gads of revisiting past books and even very recent past events (within this book). Suddenly, the whole day abruptly wraps up towards the end of CD #11 and CD #12 is the whole happy family having about to have a lovely meal (insert twenty references to Italian foods and wines here), talking about how scared they are about what's next from Carrie.
I found this installment boring and disjointed. There's so very much description about the first four hours, then boom: Kay throws a bucket of water on Troy, short circuts the electrical trap and here we are a week later having dinner.
Patricia Cornwell, you're better than this...

The last time I read a Scarpetta novel was back in 2013 and it was book 16 in the series. I have come back to the series at book 23 with Depraved Heart.
Scarpetta is called to investigate an apparent suicide but as she begins to examine the clues all is not what it seems. Yet her investigation is side-tracked as she receives a series of text messages with a video feed that suggest her niece Lucy is in trouble. Once again Scarpetta finds herself in a race to sort out fact from fiction.
Coming back to a Scarpetta novel is like catching up with old friends. You come in visit their lives, discover what a mess they have made, where they have been successful and that you still find Lucy annoying.
What I did find to be a significant change in this book is that no one seems to trust anyone anymore. Scarpetta does not trust Lucy, Benton or Marino. Marino does not trust Scarpetta and Lucy is sounding more like a conspiracy theorist every time she opens her mouth.
Cornwell knows her subject well and includes enough interesting detail not to bog down the novels pace. The writing is sharp and certainly keeps the pages turning, What I do like is that Cornwell keeps abreast of the latest trends and new technology that is occurring and is able to seamlessly weave into the story line.
You can read this novel as a standalone if you have some knowledge of Scarpetta’s world. If you are first time reader of Scarpetta then do go back and read some of the earlier novels. It will be of great benefit and give you better understanding of the characters.
One aspect of the novel I did find disturbing was at the end when Scarpetta acknowledges that everyone is carrying a gun at a family dinner. It might seem strange but I found it to be an overly dark scene as a family has been driven to such fear that they can only see a violent solution in the offering.
There is still life in the series and Scarpetta still remains a trailblazer.

Hi everyone!

I'm thrilled to be the first stop on the blog tour for the new Patricia Cornwell book, Depraved Heart. This is the 23rd (can you believe that?!) instalment of the Scarpetta series. I've been a fan of Cornwell's books for as long as I can remember, and I've read all of this series. Needless to say, I was delighted to be given the opportunity to take part in the blog tour. My thanks to Hayley Camis and Harper Collins for my review copy of Depraved Heart.





About the author:

Patricia Cornwell has sold over 100 million books and had 29 New York Times bestsellers, including Dust, The Bone Bed, Red Mist and Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper- Case Closed. Postmortem is the only novel to win five major crime awards in a single year and Cruel and Unusual won Britain's prestigious Gold Dagger Award for the best crime novel. Fox 2000 have bought the rights to Kay Scarpetta to be developed for the big screen. When not writing from her Boston home, she is tirelessly researching cutting edge forensics to include in her work. Currently researching drone technology as well as continuing her work in ballistics, explosives and firearms, Cornwell has also been learning about advanced trauma for the emergency responder through simulation technology, working with the Special Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T) department, training on the VirFa Firearms Training Simulators as well as Scuba Diving in Bermuda.







About the book:
Dr. Kay Scarpetta is working a suspicious death scene in Cambridge, Massachusetts when an emergency alert sounds on her phone. A video link lands in her text messages and seems to be from her computer genius niece Lucy. But how can it be? It’s clearly a surveillance film of Lucy taken almost twenty years ago.

As Scarpetta watches she begins to learn frightening secrets about her niece, whom she has loved and raised like a daughter. That film clip and then others sent soon after raise dangerous legal implications that increasingly isolate Scarpetta and leave her confused, worried, and not knowing where to turn. She doesn’t know whom she can tell – not her FBI husband Benton Wesley or her investigative partner Pete Marino. Not even Lucy.


My thoughts:

Following on from Flesh and Blood, Depraved Heart picks up two months after the events involving the Copperhead Killer. Dr. Kay Scarpetta is called to a suspicious death in Cambridge. A film mogul's daughter is found dead in her home and Scarpetta and Marino attend the scene.

Within minutes of beginning her exam, Scarpetta receives a message on her phone from her niece Lucy's ICE with a video link. The accompanying footage makes her question those around her and who to trust.

Simultaneously, Lucy's home is being raided by the FBI. With worry setting in, Scarpetta rushes through her examination of the scene in order to go over to Lucy's house, not knowing about the raid.

This book essentially takes place over the course of one day. It is full of forensic detail, the kind you usually expect from Cornwell. At times, it's difficult to take in all that gets written, but it's good to know the reasoning behind the forensic processes.

I really enjoyed Depraved Heart. More so than Flesh and Blood. It's full of psychological warfare as the characters don't know who to trust, and an old nemesis resurfaces, testing everyone. There are some unexpected twists and turns along the way which make for interesting asides.

My only issue with Depraved Heart was that once you get to the climax of the story, it ends very quickly. I would have liked a little more explanation of certain events, but that's personal preference.

I gave Depraved Heart 4⭐️ on Goodreads. It was a highly enjoyable story and I'm very grateful to Harper Collins for my copy!

Happy Reading

I get the feeling Patricia Cornwell wants the Kay Scarpetta/Carrie Grethen relationship to give off Sherlock/Moriarty vibes. It does not work. This book is just hundreds of pages of a bunch of super-intelligent, privileged, and pretentious Ivy League-educated cops and federal agents talking down to each other and lying to each other. And I’m not even joking. If Jane Austen were to write a mystery novel this would be it. I hate books where absolutely nothing get accomplished by the end. I don’t even care that this is a series, the end wasn’t satisfying at all. There was no resolution at all, just a magical wave of the hand at the end to explain everything the author couldn’t be bothered to explain. Overall, just an ordeal to get through. Gave it a two because there were some tense moments that gave me hope for excitement to come, even though I was let down every single time.