Patricia Cornwell’s newest book, “Trace,” leads readers on an unforgettable journey of mystery and suspense that will surely leave them gasping for air.
The novel is the thirteenth book in a series of mysteries revolving around the main character Dr. Kay Scarpetta. Although this book is part of a series readers will be able to pick it up and dive right in without feeling like they are missing any key details.
As the book opens Dr. Scarpetta is asked to come back to her old stomping grounds of Richmond, VA – were she was fired five years before as the city’s Chief Medical Examiner – to help solve a puzzling crime. A fourteen-year-old girl named Gilly Paulsson is dead. The girl’s mother insists that she died of the flu but no cause of death can be determined.
When Scarpetta returns to Richmond she finds that nothing is the same as when she left. The Medical Examiner’s system is in shambles, and the man who replaced her is incompetent and obviously resents Scarpetta’s presence.
Due to all this chaos and upheaval, Scarpetta is forced to work almost solely with her sidekick, one-time police captain, Pete Marino. The clues that are left for Scarpetta and Marino are scant, and undetectable to the naked eye. Readers will play the guessing game throughout this thriller as they try and figure out the next plot twist.
The sad truth of this book’s conclusion is almost too much for Scarpetta, much less the reader, to bear. Each mess that our heroes step into becomes messier, and each time they seem to make progress at solving the case the truth seems just that much further away.
The way the story’s seemingly conflicting mini-plots come together is truly frightening. No unsettling coincidence is merely a coincidence.
Cornwell effectively rebounds from bad reviews about her last few books with this novel. Readers will quickly find that Cornwell’s eye for detail and vast knowledge of forensics make for an especially engaging book that’s hard to put down.