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A review by kelly_ann_s
Port Mortuary by Patricia Cornwell
3.0
★★★
A slow burn told largely from the perspective of our protagonist, Kay Scarpetta.
I very rarely - very, very, very rarely - knowingly read a series out of order. This series however, is one that I didn't keep up with but like to dip into occasionally to catch up with the characters. The last book I read in the series was book #16 so I figured that it wasn't too big a leap to move to book #18 - my library didn't have #17 which was really my motivation to move to this one.
For the first 100 pages, I thought I had made a very bad mistake. I was confused about the setting and the backstory didn't sound familiar to me at all. The story is told largely from Kay Scarpetta's point of view so the reader learns things when Scarpetta does which is not always at the same time as the other characters. The feeling is one of anxiety that things are happening behind Scarpetta's back that she can't control.
The story starts to come together however and the reader puts the pieces together at the same time that Dr. Scarpetta does. This one not only has murder where the cause of death is more complicated than originally thought but also is wrapped in a military technology conspiracy that adds to the tension.
I enjoy books that go into detail about skills that are not always directly related to the mystery like surviving and tracking in the woods ([a:Kelley Armstrong|7581|Kelley Armstrong|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1625010968p2/7581.jpg]'s [b:Murder at Haven's Rock|60784588|Murder at Haven's Rock (Haven's Rock, #1)|Kelley Armstrong|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1658760332l/60784588._SY75_.jpg|95597986]), spy craft and military maneuvering ([b:The Gray Man|6547865|The Gray Man (Gray Man, #1)|Mark Greaney|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1335649192l/6547865._SY75_.jpg|6740331] series by [a:Mark Greaney|2961590|Mark Greaney|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1446347246p2/2961590.jpg]), police procedures (the Harry Bosch series by [a:Michael Connelly|12470|Michael Connelly|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1539114448p2/12470.jpg]) or in the case of this book, forensic pathology. I enjoy the balance that these authors find between having the detail serve the story but without ever having the reader feel that they have "dumbed it down".
This was an enjoyable read with a good puzzle to solve, even though it started out a bit stressful before I realized that that was the intent.
A slow burn told largely from the perspective of our protagonist, Kay Scarpetta.
I very rarely - very, very, very rarely - knowingly read a series out of order. This series however, is one that I didn't keep up with but like to dip into occasionally to catch up with the characters. The last book I read in the series was book #16 so I figured that it wasn't too big a leap to move to book #18 - my library didn't have #17 which was really my motivation to move to this one.
For the first 100 pages, I thought I had made a very bad mistake. I was confused about the setting and the backstory didn't sound familiar to me at all. The story is told largely from Kay Scarpetta's point of view so the reader learns things when Scarpetta does which is not always at the same time as the other characters. The feeling is one of anxiety that things are happening behind Scarpetta's back that she can't control.
The story starts to come together however and the reader puts the pieces together at the same time that Dr. Scarpetta does. This one not only has murder where the cause of death is more complicated than originally thought but also is wrapped in a military technology conspiracy that adds to the tension.
I enjoy books that go into detail about skills that are not always directly related to the mystery like surviving and tracking in the woods ([a:Kelley Armstrong|7581|Kelley Armstrong|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1625010968p2/7581.jpg]'s [b:Murder at Haven's Rock|60784588|Murder at Haven's Rock (Haven's Rock, #1)|Kelley Armstrong|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1658760332l/60784588._SY75_.jpg|95597986]), spy craft and military maneuvering ([b:The Gray Man|6547865|The Gray Man (Gray Man, #1)|Mark Greaney|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1335649192l/6547865._SY75_.jpg|6740331] series by [a:Mark Greaney|2961590|Mark Greaney|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1446347246p2/2961590.jpg]), police procedures (the Harry Bosch series by [a:Michael Connelly|12470|Michael Connelly|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1539114448p2/12470.jpg]) or in the case of this book, forensic pathology. I enjoy the balance that these authors find between having the detail serve the story but without ever having the reader feel that they have "dumbed it down".
This was an enjoyable read with a good puzzle to solve, even though it started out a bit stressful before I realized that that was the intent.