I have been an avid reader of the Kay Scarpetta series since it started 22 books ago. I would buy the newest one as soon as it was released and devour it to get my Scarpetta fix. This was back when I mainly stuck to reading only from my select favourite authors and kind of shunned any books being added to my TBR that weren't from my already preferred author list.  This self inflicted system of mine, worked for a time until I was up to date on reading everything from my favourites and started looking to try some new authors, needless to say, once I started widening my reading options I soon started piling up newly released books by some of my OG favourites and trying to find time to fit them in to my reading plans.  This is why I am sooo far behind now and have only just read this book even though it was published in 2015.  Has the series lost its lustre for me after such a long break from it?! In a word...No!!  It was like spending some cherished time with old friends that I don't get to see as often as I would like. It's a biggish book but it was very enjoyable.  I loved that a previous villain (Carrie Grethen) was back...or was she?!  Most of the plot of this book takes place over a 24-hour period when we focus on the legal aspects of what the FBI can and can't do to Lucy based on a tip they've received and an inkling they have about what really happened in the last book in Florida. While we do have a body and an autopsy, Kay isn't doing it herself, and she only comments on what she's seen or heard from others. We're not even certain who killed the woman as it could be a couple of people, but we'll be sure in the next book when the arc concludes.
It was a suspenseful read that delved into how Carrie could pull off such actions from the dive 'accident' in Florida to the copper-mining to the murder of the starlet's daughter in the initial crime that we think is unrelated. My only criticism of this book was that for me, it lacked a lot of the autopsy/medical analysis that I have so enjoyed being so detailed in previous novels, but thats just my personal taste thing and what I have come to expect from a Kay Scarpetta book. That being said, it still kept me guessing and for the last 200 pages, life as I know it was on pause until I finished it.  In 2023 I plan to catch back up on the Scarpetta books, I already have them shelved and ready to go! #patriciacornwell #depravedheart #tea_sipping_bookworm #goodreads #litsy #thestorygraph #amazonaustralia #thriller #kayscarpetta #bookqueen #bookstagram