This one was a bit difficult to get through. Paranoia R Us seems to be the theme that runs through this book. EVERYONE is keeping secrets "for their best interest" ... is so damned frustrating. I mean, come on ... if she can't be honest with her family now. Just ugh!!

Lucy's about to completely explode. Janet & Benton are up to something. Merino is just trying to piece together all the secrets ... and not blow himself up.

The ending was extremely abrupt ... and had me looking for the rest of the book.

The overall story is very intriguing, I just miss the way the team used to function. Without trust, there's not much of a foundation to maintain a relationship.

It was really hard to follow this storyline

I haven't read a Scarpetta novel in a long time, so I picked this up for $.25. I still think I overpaid. Over 100 pages in, and all that occurred was that Kay got a text including a video of Lucy from years before. So she left a crime scene to go see her. That's it. I'm over 25% of the way through, and we haven't gotten anywhere. I seem to remember why I quit reading this series of books.

DNF

It had been a while since I have read a Patricia Cornwell novel. The previous Cornwell books I've read had Dr Kay Scarpetta as the central figure. Usually, Kay was in her lab solving crime and doing autopsies.

This novel is again a crime novel involving Kay, her niece Lucy, Lucy's partner Janet, Kay's husband Benton (an FBI operative) and her investigative partner Pete Marino all play huge roles in the plot..

The plot centres on Carrie Grethen, a former FBI agent who was at Quantico many years earlier during the time Lucy was there. Carrie and Lucy had an brief and intense relationship until Lucy discovered how evil and manipulative Carrie was. Carrie used her knowledge of FBI procedures to haunt Lucy and Kay for many years until 17 years ago she was thought to have died in a helicopter accident.

It quickly becomes apparent that Carrie did not die. For years she was honing her skills in fraud, murder and deception. Carrie is most certainly a psychopath with an agenda for revenge.

The death of a wealthy socialites daughter and an FBI raid on Lucy and Janet's seem to be two completely separate events. Are they connected in some way. It seems quite possible when Kay and Marino seem to be followed from the crime scene of the socialite to Lucy's home.

Kay starts to question who she can trust as the story unravels. This is a of those crime novels where you know who the "bad guy" is. As the horrendous events unfold, the reader will be wondering why and how this could be happening.

I enjoyed reading this novel, as I have almost all the prior Kay Scarpetta books in the past.

A little too self-centered.

I found myself just wanting to be done.... Of the series, this has been my least favorite. It lacked scarpetta, seriously. No autopsies. No mystery. No more Carrie, please. Unfortunately it's set up for just more Carrie. I wanted her to be sitting in the dining room in the last chapter just to end it all. I agree with the other reviews, the read between the lines, damaged Kay psyche is just a lame read. Benton, blah. Lucy, blah... The only parts I felt were decent were when they weren't mentioned and it as just Kay and Marino. Sadly, those parts were few and far in between