- Hardcover: 416 pages
- Publisher: Little, Brown & Company; First Edition edition (7 Sep 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0316854735
- ISBN-13: 978-0316854733
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.4 x 4.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 149,076 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Trace: The New Scarpetta Novel: 1 (A Scarpetta Novel)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Break out the champagne: Patricia Cornwell has thankfully moved on from her controversial campaign to lay the Jack the Ripper murders at the door of the painter Walter Sickert, and in Trace is again raising our pulse rate by taking us into the dangerous world of consultant pathologist Dr Kay Scarpetta.
In this latest outing, Kay finds herself back in Virginia examining a curious death, that of the youthful Gilly Paulson. Joel Marcus, her successor as Chief Medical Examiner, has summoned a reluctant Scarpetta to help out, but her professional work is compromised by her unhappiness at the radical changes occurring in her old territory: Scarpetta's old morgue has been bulldozed, and she isn’t happy working with the man who took her job. Other members of the familiar Scarpetta crew make an appearance: her partner Benton Wesley and her niece Lucy Farinelli are tracking down an assailant who has nearly ended the life of one of Lucy’s colleagues. The two cases turn out to be connected (surprise!), and soon several lives are at stake.
After the recent misfires, it’s a relief to note that Patricia Cornwell is back on track, dealing comfortably with her most familiar protagonist and a plot that yokes in bomb-makers and some bizarre sexual practices. A resounding welcome back, to both Ms Cornwell and Ms Scarpetta.--Barry Forshaw
Review
'When she is this good, she is hard to beat.' New Statesman 'Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns.' Mirror
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Quite simply unbelievably poor. There is no real plot and what there is totally lacks credibility; subplots and characters appear and disappear at will, the book trails off as though Ms Cornwell simply lost interest towards the end. I was extremely disappointed and she'll have to do a lot to redeem herself. Perhaps this is what happens when an author gets so full of herself that editors daren't change so much as a comma. Avoid.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I'm sorry to have to say this about my favourite author, but I really think that Patricia Cornwell should take a break. If this had been one of the first Scarpetta stories, then I really don't think that the series would have ever taken off. I had actually forgotton how awful 'Blowfly' was particularly her new style of writing these books in the third person, so when I saw Trace on the bookstand I bought it eagerly. What a disappointment. None of the main characters seem to be themselves any more. The plot was weak and just didn't have the gripping edge that Scarpetta novels usually have. It's almost as if another author has taken over writing the Scarpetta books.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I usually enjoy reading the adventures of Patricia Cornwell’s Scarpetta but this was a total disappointment. My interest in the book began to wane after the first few chapters. The plot was lacklustre and the only cliffhanger was whether I would have the stamina to reach the end of the plodding and contrived narrative. I found the change to the first person and the use of the present tense of the verb highly irritating. It doesn’t seem written by the same author.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Downward slide
Oh dear. I loved the earlier Scarpetta books, but this was awful. The one before it was also far from brilliant. Ms Cornwell is off the boil I'm afraid.
Published 12 months ago by Chris Lonie
Scarpetta's here again
You would think Kay had had enough of all the bodies and back biting when all she's trying to do is her job and make the world a bit safer for everyone. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mrs. La Watts
Time to retire???
Have read all of her books but think it is time she took retirement. Her early books were excellent but all I was left with was such a let down feeling when I finished this one.
Published 20 months ago by Ms. M. E. Ferrier
Not the worst, but still pretty poor
Like many people who have commented on this book, I am a huge Patricia Cornwell fan having read all of the books in the Scarpetta series. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Emma L. Gillingha
Written badly. Minimal plot. Unlikely characters. Read badly.
I agree with the majority. This is a very poor offering from one of my favourite authors. Had this been my first experience of Scarpetta, it would have been the last. Read more
Published on 10 Mar 2010 by E. Carver-barrass
My first and last Patricia Cornwell book....
This is my first Patricia Cornwell book - and definitely my last. Kay Scarpetta has returned to her old police forensic department in Virginia and is dismayed by the changes she... Read more
Published on 24 Dec 2009 by Wynne Kelly
Patricia Cornwell - Trace
This is, as i'm sure you're aware, the 13th in the Kay Scarpetta series. And here we see Kay being invited back to Richmond to assist the new Chief Medical Examiner Dr Joel Marcus... Read more
Published on 27 Sep 2009 by molko
deflated
Started reading this book in high expectation of a good murder mystery,and thought I was going to be pleased but the plot seemed to be watered down in the final third of the book... Read more
Published on 18 Aug 2009 by palace pier
Competent but still lacking the old spark
I am a faithful reader and follower of all Scarpetta's stories. I, like many others feel that at the beginning of this series (and we are now some 13 books in) Cornwell was a... Read more
Published on 21 July 2008 by Net
First and last
This is the first, and I have to say last, Cornwell book that I've read. I can see from reviews that the earlier books in the Scarpetta series are seemingly superior to this one -... Read more
Published on 6 Mar 2008 by Emma T.
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