The Bone Bed by Patricia Cornwell

I was a big fan of Patricia Cornwell’s books many years ago when they first came out. I read the first half dozen or so and then drifted away to other authors. I decided to give her another go with The Bone Bed. I also wondered if I could read it, effectively as a ‘stand alone’, after missing so many of her previous books. Well the answer is that Patricia Cornwell still knows how to deliver a page turning, forensic-based crime novel (she did invent the CSI genre, after all). But more importantly, if you are a new reader or you haven’t read Patricia Cornwell for a while you can easily pick up this book and enjoy it. She quickly brings you up to date with the different relationships.

The story opens with an intriguing set up. A woman has vanished while digging in a dinosaur bone bed in a remote part of Canada. Officials suspect foul play, especially when Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta receives an alarming email with an image of a severed ear.  She doesn’t know if the ear is linked to the missing woman, but then other crimes closer to home seem to be connected to her disappearance.

Dr Kay Scarpetta is a tough but vulnerable character and in this novel the danger of a serial murderer on the loose affects those closest to her. Her lead investigator Pete Marino is under suspicion, although she believes he has been framed.  Her FBI agent husband Benton Wesley gets involved in the case but reveals secrets that could negatively impact their marriage. Meanwhile her niece Lucy is strangely distant.  The forensic detail is often hair raising, the courtroom scenes are electrifying, and the action in the book is vividly imagined.

Hachette