Book Review: Black Notice

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Black Notice     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Patricia Cornwell
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural   Thriller   Woman Main Character
Series: Kay Scarpetta # 10
Putnam, Jul 1999, $25.95, 430 pp.

For the past year, Virginia’s chief medical examiner has drowned in her emotional pain. A letter from beyond the grave only sends her into a deeper depression. Her job becomes her panacea because she discards her shroud of grief for periods of time.

Against the advice of her staff, Kay Scarpetta investigates a murdered corpse found inside a sealed container that was unloaded off a ship that had just docked. Marino assists her, but his boss, Chief Deputy Bray places pressure on these two individuals she wants fired. Bray plans to make the duo appear incompetent, but the two crime fighters are able to ignore her interference. Kay and Marino obtain information from homicide and Interpol that takes them to Paris where they further learn that a loup-garou serial killer immigrated to Virginia.

The police procedural audience will want to rush to the nearest book store to obtain the newest Scarpetta adventure. The heroine’s fans will observe a softer, more vulnerable Kay than before as she cannot stop her deep anguish from overwhelming her. Her niece Lucy and Marino struggle with the experiences from the last book POINT OF ORIGIN. Besides the investigation, BLACK NOTICE is about people and how relationships change them. This, in turn, makes for a much deeper story line and it demonstrates beyond a doubt that Patricia Cornwell still has the magic touch to produce another memorable work.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner