Another Patricia Cornwell book bought at the airport for some choice holiday reading. Or so I hoped. I have to agree with some other readers who gave this a low rating. The plot has been dealt with in other reviews, so I won't dwell on it too much. The mystery of the "midget murderer", who turns up at a psychiatric hospital in New York, begging Scarpetta to examine him. There's plenty of attention to forensic detail as you expect from Ms Cornwell, a lengthy description of a REALLY repugnant crime, and for once, a good and exciting ending (unlike the damp squibs that Cornwell can sometimes serve up). But Cornwell's writing has gradually got more dense and bogged down with technical issues (aside from pathology, how computers work, the internet, for example) at the expense of creating a page-turning read. At times, it's like reading a manual. Characters - even the killers - become more unbelievable in terms of their modus operandii. This is not The Body Farm, an intricate and involving story centred on a particular pyschological problem, nor one of the excellent "werewolf" novels in the series. Also, I'm a little tired with her recent books containing characters who have a personal vendetta against Scarpetta, and who are out to ruin her reputation via modern media outlets. In the previous two books it was Dr Self, the cable TV agony aunt. This time, someone is defaming Scarpetta via a blog. Why does Scarpetta attract such out-and-out psychos with the time (and the money) to wage a media war against her? Seeing how mud seems to stick to those in the public eye caught up in scandal, it's a wonder that Scarpetta has managed to rescale her former professional heights since retreating to Florida, given how much negative press must have built up around her. Sadly, I found this to be a rather tedious read and for once, did not enjoy it as a holiday read; there was a book-swap at the hotel so I left it behind for someone else and took an old classic off the shelf instead!
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