From Potter's Field

This one ties in nicely with the previous two as it concerns the serial killer Temple Gault who is becoming something of Scarpetta's nemesis.

As with all her books the storyline and writing is well crafted and keeps the reader engaged until the end. One other thing I appreciated this book for was the tying up of some loose ends in Scarpetta's personal life which were left unexplained in the previous offering, The Body Farm.

One slight complaint is the limits to what Scarpetta can achieve. Surely primarily she is a Medical Examiner not a member of a SWAT team, yet once again it is she armed with a shotgun, creeping in the depths of the New York underground system who finally succeeds in bringing the killer to justice. In fact this book does tend to have a few too mentions of weapons and their accoutrements which doesn't make me think of the characters anymore heroic, but maybe this is a factor to pander to the American market.

Anyway those gripes aside, it's with joy I look forward to the next instalment.


Good read but arrogant protagonist   November 17, 2003
22 out of 32 found this review helpful

Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta's series are very entertaining and manages to keep avid fans like me hook but reading this book, I am begininng to dislike the main character, she is only the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia but it seems she is the only capable person of solving all the violent crimes in the whole of US.

Questions that crept through my mind as I read this book: how come the murderers are always shot/killed by Scarpetta at the end of the book? And Dr. Scarpetta is getting more and more arrogant in her views, putting Marino down through certain sections in the book; Benton Wesley is just like a useless sidekick to her and just the go-between FBI and her. No one is better than her; she has all the answers, and the Chief Medical of Examiner of New York can't hold a candle to her as well. She does not work along with others and thinks she is better than others and have descriptions like "my neighborhood was one of the wealthiest in Richmond" - mentioning her Mercedes car unnecessary, etc.

She is always right while the others who have more experience in solving crimes (basing on their job titles, anyway) are clueless and she points out the obvious all the time.

I'm in the midst of deciding whether to read the next in the series....if the Scarletta (haha) character becomes more arrogant in the next few books, I think I will switch to Temperance.