Series- Kay Scarpetta #1
Genre- Crime/Thriller
Synopsis- Under cover of night in Richmond, Virginia, a human monster strikes, leaving a gruesome trail of stranglings that has paralyzed the city. Medical examiner Kay Scarpetta suspects the worst: a deliberate campaign by a brilliant serial killer whose signature offers precious few clues. With an unerring eye, she calls on the latest advances in forensic research to unmask the madman. But this investigation will test Kay like no other, because it's being sabotaged from within—and someone wants her dead.
My Review- I read half of this series a long time ago and decided to read them again before delving into the more recent books to refresh myself...and I wasn't disappointed.
I enjoyed it as much as the first time. I love seeing Scarpetta, who is such a strong career driven woman of high intelligence and skill, face her vulnerabilities and weaknesses. Such as her ability to worry that she has made a mistake no matter how careful and good at her job she is, she acknowledges that she is ultimately a human who can become exhausted and overlook things. Like her struggles with dealing with her 10 year old niece who is almost as intelligent as herself or perhaps mislabel evidence...
In Postmortem a serial rapist/murderer is roaming free in Richmond and it has the entire city on the edge of panic. The politicians are getting scared and already looking for a scapegoat to cover their own mistakes and the most vulnerable place they can hit is Scarpetta's medical office. The murderer leaves very little evidence of use, he is virtually invisible and has the characters pointing at each other. The atmosphere is dark, tense and gritty. And Scarpetta is feeling the heat from those above her. In a desperate effort to catch the killer she puts herself further in the fire, risking her career or another murder happening.
I love the pacing, the characters, everything. The development is fantastic. I remember disliking Marino early on but as his story builds he seriously grows on you, becomes almost...adorable? He isn't stupid, but he has seen enough darkness in his career to go about things less delicately.
I am going to enjoy reading these books again.