Cruel and Unusual: Scarpetta 4

First off, let me say that although all of Cornwell's thrillers stand alone, it's better if you read them in the order they were written. More so in PC's case than in other authors who continue with the same character, book after book. This is because PC does the impossible, she keeps her characters continually growing with each story. Pass one up and you miss some of their development and the very interesting, but very flawed people that walk through the pages of her books are like people we know, friends, and one should stay current with one's friends."Cruel and Unusual" opens with Kay waiting for the execution of murder/rapist Ronnie Joe Waddell, but even as she's waiting someone is being killed, the killer using Waddell's M.O. One of his finger prints even shows up at one of the crime scenes.This book has the usual Cornwellian twists and turns and as usual I was glued to my seat as I read this five star novel. I loved every second of it, because nobody does Cornwell, like Cornwell.Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne

This book opens with the execution of rapist/murderer Ronnie Joe Waddell and the following autopsy. Not long after murder victims start showing up around Richmond that look like they were committed by Waddell. How can that be? He's dead. Then his prints show up at a crime scene and to top it off, Kay's assistant in murdered and the press blames Kay. As usual PC carries over characters from her previous novels that we've come to know. Any second we expect cop buddy Pete Marino to drop dead from his excesses and niece Lucy is still annoying (to me anyway). Thankfully, the descriptions of the murders and the autopsies don't seem as gruesome as the last one ("All that Remains) and like the last one, this thriller gets five stars, because I just couldn't put it down. Reviewed by Vesta Irene

This is an awesome book. Kay just keeps getting better and better. It's also fun to see the characters develop more with each book - Kay herself as she seems to be always "one against the world", Marino who it appears is heading towards some sort of heart attack, Lucy who seems to be getting more and more quixotic. In this book Kay finds herself smack in the middle of a series of gruesome killings. It appears that a recently executed murderer, who Kay herself has seen on her autopsy table, is still around committing crimes. A number of murders occur where the executed murderer's fingerprints are turning up. Kay, Marino and Benton try to track a killer, but it appears that the corruption goes up a long ways into the political stratosphere. This is a taut and totally believable thriller. I can't wait until the next one because the book ended with the way wide open to the next installment.

Ah, the good old days of Dr. Scarpetta and her gang of crime solvers. This book represents one of the glory days of Cornwell's writing. I reread CRUEL AND UNUSUAL whenever I wish to return to a time when I actually liked Scarpetta.The plot is ingenious. An executed inmate's fingerprints turn up at another crime scene. How could this possibly happen? Perhaps he's still alive, having been switched with another inmate instead of dying himself. Perhaps the truth is more twisted and harrowing than even Dr. Scarpetta can imagine. When Kay's implicated in the murder of one of her workers she has to find the reason behind the fingerprints to save herself and those close to her.

I stumbled upon this book quite by accident and thought I'd give it a whirl. I never expected to fall in love with a character and an author quite so quickly! From the first page to the last, it's a can't-put-down book. I love the idea of having a fingerprint from a recently-executed criminal show up at a new crime scene. And I love how they determine throughout the whirling pace of the book how this could be possible and who the real killer is. Great ending, superb characters and dialogue. Cornwell is a mistress of her field and has great credentials -- having worked for a medical investigator -- to boot! Anyone who hasn't read this book should drop everything they're doing and read it.