Postmortem

Rating:
Summary: A Story About a Psychopathic Killer
Review: This won an award from the Mystery Writers of America for the best first novel. It was based on a true crime in the Richmond Virginia area. A psychopath kills young women who live alone, striking in the early hours of Saturday. There seems to be no other pattern to the murders. The victims are tortured before they are strangled. There are few clues and no fingerprints. One victim is married, but lived alone as her husband lived away Monday to Friday; the husband becomes the chief suspect, as usual.

This story is told from the viewpoint of Kay Scarpetta ME, a single woman who has a high position in a man's world. Kay is resented by some. There is a sub-plot about a state Attorney-General who is a secret rapist. [What did she know and when did she know it?] There are many pages of details about the Medical Examiner's office. The author previously worked for that office, and as a police reporter. [My opinion is that the many details and characterizations slow the pace of action.] Kay's niece Lucy is shown as being a neglected and emotionally abused child; how will she turn out? Cornwell shows her knowledge of personal computers and software.

Agatha Christie's "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" was a best seller, although it violated the conventions of mystery fiction. This book also does that, but it seems more based on reality that way. Will Cornwell's future novels do as well? Does her political outlook find favor with her audience?



Rating:
Summary: The First & the Best
Review: With this book Patricia Cornwell secured herself a multi-millions dollar career and countless follow-ups. Postmortem is extremely well written, the prose flawless, and the personal and forensic details absorbing. Don't expect and nice character as a protagonist. In Postmorterm a serial killer goes around Richmond, Virginia and kills young women. It's not a laughing matter, and Cornwell handles the narration and pace with a touch of realism which is scary to say the least. Maybe this has to do--apart from her ability to write convincingly--with the fact that the serial killings in the novel are based on a real case which also happened in Richmond, Virginia. Perhaps the only problem is the ending is a little weak but then Cornwell once claimed, 'I don't do mysteries'. And she doesn't. This novel takes you into the head and life of the postmorterm examiner. Keep in mind that Cornwell had taken some artistic liberties from the sake of dramatic tension, and that her protagonist, Kay Scarpetta, involves herself in duties which she would not normally be authorized to handle in real-life situations. Neverthelss, it's a rollercoaster of a book, and for those who have never read a Cornwell, start from the beginning, and read this one. For the record, as the years go by, Cornwell's novels are declining in quality. See my other reviews.