Rating: 
Summary: This is not what I've come to expect from Cornwell...
Review: ...not by a long shot. When Joe Wambaugh started playing it for laughs, he lost me as a reader. There's a section where our hero is on her cell phone and a garbled crossover from someone else's call makes her think a hate crime is being planned, when actually it's just a couple of hunters making plans. Not only that, one of these guys has an embarrassing name that's been passed down through several generations (you'd think one of his ancestors would have gotten the point a long time ago). All the bad jokes make the story line disjointed and muddled. The only redeeming factor here is that the main character is pure Cornwell--a strong female character who concentrates on her profession rather than gender politics. Chief Judy Hammer is a brass level cop who's so competent that she was brought in from the outside to straighten out a dysfunctional police force. Kind of like Cornwell's main hero Kay Scarpetta from most of her other books, an M.E. who's good enough to run a whole state's forensic pathology unit. I only hope this book isn't "The New Cornwell", where she ends up casting Scarpetta in stories that are a mix of "Diagnosis: Murder" and "Police Academy". I enjoy non sequitur humor as much as anyone else, but I began reading Cornwell's stuff for the same reason I read Wambaugh a generation ago--to get good crime stories.
Rating:
Summary: A failed exercise....
Review: .
This book struck me as a failed attempt by Patricia Cornwell to publicly flex her literary muscles. She tries to write dialog like Elmore Leonard, and she takes every opportunity to show off her knowledge of minutiae regarding automobile mechanics and other things.Like the one that's in the book, this dog does not hunt. Her characters are all stereotypes; there is not one that is the least bit interesting or complex. The dialog is garbage. The story line is not believable; it is, however, predictable. The suspense is not suspenseful. I do believe that Patricia is a very smart, very capable woman. No doubt about that. I also believe she *could* be a good writer. She just needs to stop trying so hard to show off how smart and capable she is while imitating other writers. In short, I think she needs to find herself and come to peace with what she finds. Then maybe she'll write a good novel
Rating: 
Summary: weed
Review: Despite all the negative reviews, I recommend this book. I felt for Weed and hated Smoke, as anybody who has ever been bullied hates bullies. Maybe not the best of Cornwell's novels, but a gripping read all the same. Try it. To the reviewer who will never read another Cornwell because she didn't like this one, I feel sad for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Worst book ever read
Review: I bought this book in a secondhand shop in Deventer (Netherlands) thinking it a book by Patricia Cornwall (rather than Cornwell)- what a silly mistake!
The characters are not developed, and parts of their stories are hardly relevant. The plot is totally unbelievable: A kid hacks into a web-site and changes the screen saver on a police computers in people's homes ?!?!? Computers in homes that are turned on remotely !?!? Some weird URL created by someone who knows nothing about computers!?!? And the reference at the start of the book (also in the book title) to the strong families in the south never reappears. I'm not a woman, but would a woman really leave hints of another lover to bring to jealousy a previous lover and current colleague? And a cat who makes sure he sees these clues? 1/5 stars - because I was not allowed to enter 0/5
Rating:
Summary: The "Plan 9 From Outer Space" of detective fiction.
Review: Let's see -- I thought that the book was enjoyable, an easy read. It reflects some of the needless frustrations of administering the city. Ms. Cornwell has good information here. I am more irritated than amused when she gets things wrong -- like referring to Oregon Hill as Oregon Hills -- but I figure she spends most of her days in NYC and has a second-hand relationship with Richmond. But, so it goes. Richmond is a sour and dying little town, sadly, and this Ms. Cornwell also captures well. It's a shame. It was a great place to grow up in the fifties and sixties. It just isn't a great place to live anymore. I think there are likely millions of people that could echo that statement about their own hometowns. I read this because a friend -- now in San Francisco, and who would want to live there??? -- sent it to me. I have never been able to make it past the first two or three chapters in anything else by Ms. Cornwell that I've picked up. This held me from the start. One of the things that I found most appealing is her efforts to sidestep -- or at least not succumb to -- stereotypes. E.g., Bubba, the character that was most susceptible to the indignities of Political Correctness, was portrayed with a bit of sympathy and perhaps even fondness. Plus, anything that has the Battle flag on the cover, I am honor-bound to love. You see, I'm a Bubba, myself.
Rating: 
Summary: A "Tongue in Cheek" thriller
Review: Set in Richmond Virginia, "Southern Cross" is Patricia Cornwell's sequel to "Hornet's Nest" and features the three main characters of that novel, Police Chief Judy Hammer, Deputy Chief Virginia West and Officer Andy Brazil. The story also includes a raft of criminals and border line crims with endearing names such as Bubba, Fluck, Muskrat, Divinity, Smoke, Beeper, Sick, Dog, Pigeon, Weed and Weed's late brother Twister. Plenty of animals featue in this book too with almost more-human names than some of the actual humans. Try Half Shell, Tree Buster, Niles and Popeye. One of the charms of this book is the easy-to-read and fascinating historical backdrop of the city of Richmond and the state of Virginia. Going back to 1607 we hear about British explorers, local Indians, African slaves, Thomas Jefferson, tobacco and the American Civil War to name just a few. However, this is a crime book and a sad tale of young no-hoper gang members, middle aged "simple" characters who enjoy nothing more than huntin', fishin' and guns, and middle class citizens of Richmond whose characters are all delightfully painted by Cornwell. Cleverly, the paths of all these characters including our 3 police officers, become crossed in the final few chapters as the story reaches its climax. This book has a delightful comedy style in one way and yet contains its fair share of murder and violence. The plot is well thought out and presented and should provide plenty of entertainment to new and established Cornwell readers, although those expecting to find a Kay Scarpetta type thriller may well be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: The "Plan 9 From Outer Space" of detective fiction.
Review: Southern Cross is too ridiculous to be a detective novel, to violent to be a comic novel. This is my first venture into Cornwell. I have been told that her Scarpetta novels are better. I may try one of them one day, but I am too astounded by this book to try another or her soon. Starting with a character named Buttner (called Butt) Fluck, aka Bubba, a blue-blooded southern aristocrat with an Austrian accent who speaks English like Chico Marx, and a thoroughly dislikable bad guy who is a well dressed, well groomed white guy with suspicious eyes, who gets sexually aroused by robbing and later by killing people. When one watches a farce on stage, on knows that all of the characters are going to interact with each other and there will be no outside characters. Southern Cross is just such a farce. The coincidences never stop.
Rating:
Summary: A time wasting excercise!
Review: This is my first (and last ) Patricia Cornwell read. A trio of policemen and women try to clean up a Southern town populated by psycopaths and rednecks.The characters are completely overdrawn to the point of caricatures.It could possibly be turned into an amusing B-grade movie at best!
Rating:
Summary: Not my favorite Cornwell read
Review: This one misses the mark for me. Try another like the Body Farm to enjoy this talented writer. From Potter's Field was also a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Not my favorite Cornwell read
Review: This one misses the mark for me. Try another like the Body Farm to enjoy this talented writer. From Potter's Field was also a good read.
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