Better With Age

All That Remains:  Kay Scarpetta #4 by Patricia Cornwell

Forensic Mystery

Like wine and cheese, Scarpetta keeps getting better with the years. 

Scarpetta gets called to a young couple, found dead in their car.  The girl is the daughter of an important political thriller.  Everyone seems to think the killing was politically motivated, but Scarpetta feels differently and she is soon on the case of a serial killer.  It's a tough case (one that I, as the reader, had no hope of solving), and one that Scarpetta struggles with.  It will keep you involved and guessing the whole way through.  Marino is back.  I really like him and the reader gets to see a little more of his tender interior.  This is a nice touch and goes far towards explaining why Scarpetta likes him so much.  This book has lots of red herrings, which makes the case so much more exciting.  It's a complex read and one you'll have to pay attention to.

These books are procedural mysteries to the extreme with gore and graphic descriptions, but necessary since the main character does autopsies.  It feels like you're doing them too, right beside Scarpetta.  I also really enjoyed some 'historical' characters coming in:  Abby, an old friend with some serious secrets that might derail Scarpetta's case; Benton Wesley, Scarpetta's old FBI boss who has some interest in the case that he won't share; and Mark, an old flame that she doesn't know whether she wants to rekindle or not.  These can be stand alone mysteries, but if you want to follow the intricacies of Scarpetta's life, her personal struggles, then read them in order.