I’ve been following Patricia Cornwall since the late 1990’s and I consider her to be up there with the best (eg. James Patterson, Karin Slaughter etc) and although I may not had read all twenty seven books in her ‘Scarpetta’ series, I have read a lot and probably own the rest. 

Everything this author writes about has been meticulously researched to within an inch of its life. The depth of writing with which everything is explained, is literally out of this world. Her own private visits to the likes of the US Secret Service, Interpol and even NASA and with interests ranging from post mortem to artificial intelligence, have given her the comprehension to mix this research with a bountiful imagination and a fabulous writing ability, to create stories that are too impressive for words.  Lucy’s state of the art helicopter - the ‘Doomsday Bird’, her computer lensed glasses, the REMOTE autopsy suite and many other James Bond-esque gadgets shows just how far technology/spyware can be developed. The Iron Man style exoskeleton (which the Russians are already establishing) brings nightmares into reality and really did cause me some anxiety, reading about just how ‘Predator’ like they can appear. 

I was most surprised by the main villain reveal in the story, which for obvious spoiler alerts I can’t discuss, but my word I was caught totally off guard. 

Kay Scarpetta is a superbly developed character with an endearing personality and a genuine sympathy for the victims. The banter between Kay and Marino, her chief investigator, is just brilliant to read and he himself is a loveable character with his Sasquatch obsession. 

Having recently attended a re-enactment of a realistic postmortem myself, I was able to relate to some of the procedures carried out and this made those scenes logical and more engaging for me. 

As a former chief medical examiner for Richmond, Virginia, the author is more than best placed to base her entertaining novels on accurate and realistic themes. For a twenty seventh book, that keeps going from strength to strength, it goes without saying that this series is hugely popular and I hope has still many more instalments to come!

#UnnaturalDeath - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️