- Paperback: 432 pages
- Publisher: Sphere; New edition edition (4 May 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 075152543X
- ISBN-13: 978-0751525434
- Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 3.1 x 17.9 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (88 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 89,909 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Black Notice
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Amazon.co.uk Review
The postmortem is in--Black Notice, the 10th in Patricia Cornwell's Scarpetta series--is a gore- splattered, intensely exciting read.
As winter grips Richmond, Virginia, an air of sombreness pervades chief medical examiner Kay Scarpetta's world. Her beloved niece Lucy is involved in a dangerous undercover police operation in Miami, and auntie fears for her life. A tyrannical new deputy chief, Diane Bray, wants to get Kay's department under her jurisdiction. Meanwhile, back at the office, someone has tinkered with the e-mail system, stealing Kay's identity and sending off slanderous and hurtful messages. Emotionally battered, Scarpetta fears she is going insane. Or, could it be that someone is deliberately sowing this harvest of sorrow?
Despite her personal problems, Scarpetta is still the reigning diva at the department of death. She is sent to investigate the purified remains of a man found inside a container ship, "eyes bulged froglike, and the scalp and beard were sloughing off with the outer layer of darkening skin." Kay finds strange, animal-like hairs on the man's clothing--the same hairs that she discovers on a murdered store clerk a few days later. In actuality, the bizarre killings extend well beyond Virginia; whoever killed the Richmond victims also butchered people in France. Kay and police captain Pete Marino are whisked off to Paris where they must collect top-secret information from a Paris morgue, and avoid becoming victims themselves.
This macabre tome is the stuff that classic Scarpetta tales are made of: creepy but compulsive autopsy scenes, plentiful plot twists and the compelling, if slightly more vulnerable, chief medical examiner herself. --Naomi Gesinger --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'Cornwell still does it better than anyone else' Daily Mail 'Cornwell's books run on high octane fuel, a cocktail of adrenalin and fear. Black Notice is no exception' The Times
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Black Notice,
By Rich Milligan (Thatcham, Berkshire) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Black Notice (Paperback)
Could it be with this, the tenth, book in the Dr Scarpetta series that Patricia Cornwell has just begun to scrape the bottom of the barrel with both plot ideas and character progression?I'd given the previous offering, Point of Origin, a lukewarm reception and accused Cornwell of not being able to offer Scarpetta fans anything new. For the first half of this book I was pleasantly surprised as there seemed to be a lot more pace and punch to the opening chapters. There was some great Lucy and Marino interplay and some great dialog between all the main characters. There was also an insight into how the ultra-professional and seemingly mechanical Scarpetta was hurting from the death of Bentley in the previous book. What was also great was to see another appearance of Scarpetta's nasty sister Dorothy who at the very least is great entertainment value. Alas it then went rapidly downhill extremely quickly. The main storyline of the book is a real half baked and half produced idea of yet another motiveless serial killer. He's just thrown into the plot with no reason other than to produce another book. There's no significance and no consequence. What is even worse though is the absolutely absurd affair that Scarpetta carries out whilst in Paris. Apart from the fact it is extremely unbelievable, it is so poorly presented I would expect this style of writing and dialog more of a soap opera or Mills and Boon romance. Finally just went I thought with the amount of pages left in my right hand there was no way this book could be brought to conclusion but would be strung over to the next one, the whole story is wrapped up in one final crazy chapter. Scarpetta let's the killer into her house like a naïve pensioner, Lucy arrives in the nick of time, gun-toting and screaming and final Marino screeches around the corner just in time to slap on the handcuffs. What rubbish, we really deserve better. One last point, please please please, can we stop all the pathetic relationship psycho-analysis between the characters. Unfortunately with the book ending with the return of Scarpetta's toy boy, Jay Talley, it looks like we're in for some more self pitying outpourings from this bunch of supposedly "talented" people.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Oh dear....what was the rush ?,
By A Customer
This review is from: Black Notice (Paperback)
I am an avid fan of Cornwells novels and have read them all...over and over ! I have introduced many friends and family to the intricate world of Kay Scarpetta and like most i rushed out to buy Black Notice. Oh dear..... i got the impression that Cornwell was in one big rush to finish this. There were several plot elements that could have been expanded in more detail, which would have improved the overall read. In my opinion, there is too much in too little detail.Which is a shame as the rest of the series are EXCELLENT ! But maybe this almost lack of enthusiasm from Cornwell reflects Scarpetta's lack of enthusiasm at everything that is so familiar but no longer holds the same intrigue or purpose (since Benton's death). But i live in hope that the next one will be better and that Scarpetta will cheer up ! I much prefer it when the atmosphere is a little more upbeat and not so dark and depressing ! Come Scarpetta...look on the bright side ! you still have Lucy and Marino ! (although i fear that Marino may not last much longer, especially as we are constantly reminded of all his bad habits ! ) So fingers crossed for the next installment and i promise you it'll all work out ok in the end !
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Ho-hum,
By
This review is from: Black Notice (A Scarpetta Novel) (Hardcover)
I used to love the Scarpetta novels, especially the first few. Then Kay Scarpetta seemed to disappear up her own arse. Does this woman possess a sense of humour? My friends and family became used to hearing my screeches of anguish as I read yet another passage in which Kay makes fresh pasta or cooks some amazing stew from scratch. I thought she was supposed to be a busy woman! Now I find Cornwell's written a book called "Scarpetta's Winter Table", which appears to include a collection of recipes. Either Cornwell's got a better sense of humour than her protagonist, or she's totally gone insane. Anyway, as for Black Notice - I was relieved to find myself enjoying it, after the astonishingly anti-climatic ending of "Point of Origin", but once again, the ending left a lot to be desired. There's no interplay between heroine and villain like we used to get, just the obligatory break-in and the chase through the various rooms of the house. Ho-hum, seen it all before. Hey Patricia, how about a nice prolonged confrontation scene? Pretty please?
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