Book Review: Cause of Death by Patricia Cornwell

Goodreads Overview;

It is New Year's Eve, the last day of Virginia's bloodiest year since the Civil War. Dr. Kay Scarpetta plunges into the murky depths of a ship graveyard to recover the very human remains of Ted Eddings, an investigative reporter. What kind of story was Eddings chasing below the icy surface of the Elizabeth River? And why did Scarpetta receive a phone call from someone reporting the death before the police were notified? She soon discovers that Eddings' murder is merely the first layer of something much deeper --- a labyrinthine conspiracy that will put all of her criminal and forensic knowledge to the test like never before. For Scarpetta, the real challenge won't be cataloging the growing number of dead bodies, but preventing herself and those she loves from becoming the next victims.

Jacque's Review:

This is the 7th book in the Kay Scarpetta series. While all of the books involve independent cases that can be read and enjoyed on their own, I would recommend reading the series in order if you plan on reading more than just a few of them. The characters and their relationships with others in the series evolve from one book to the next. It would be rather confusing in that aspect if you decide to skip around. 

In this installment, Kay is investigating the murder of a reporter that worked relatively closely with her office. Her assistant medical examiner in another distract, who should be the one handling this case, had a death in the family and had to return to England for the funeral. He offered to let Kay stay at his house while he is gone, which she accepted. When people start prowling around his house, she begins to question her own safety and why her assistant is really out of town. 

Another member of her staff is impacted by the investigation and an unusual event takes place at her office. Someone really doesn't want the results of this investigation to get out. The closer Kay and her team get to the truth, the more dangerous things become.

Now that Kay's niece, Lucy, has graduated from the FBI Academy, she is an actual member of Benton Wesley's team. He is a profiler for the FBI and heads up a number of investigations in this series. Kay is one of his consultants and doesn't have a second thought about putting herself in danger, but she does not want Lucy on the front lines. Lucy is a computer genius, which should allow her to work behind the scenes, but that is not the role Lucy wants and Benton is not about to hold her back. She is a valuable member of his team and he takes full advantage of her skills in this book.

Overall, this was enjoyable murder mystery. There are currently 25 books in the series, so it is a daunting undertaking if you plan on reading the entire series. I have been reading these books since 2011. This isn't the type of series you have to continue reading for fear of forgetting some of the content, so I pick one up whenever I am looking for a good murder mystery. I enjoy the characters and both the police and medical aspects of the investigations. I do find it humorous to read about some of the technology now that these books are almost 25 years old. What was high tech and advanced back then is archaic now.