Book 6

I've been lax in posting my 52 books challenge. For book 6, I read Trace by Patricia Cornwell. I checked this out from the library, and didn't discover that I'd read it years ago until I got to the second chapter. I put it down, then decided to read it again. It was well worth it.

If you're not familiar with the Scarpetta series and plan to read one of her books, you should be aware that Scarpetta is a forensic pathologist who works with the police and the FBI to solve (mostly) lurid and grisly homicides. I seem to remember the first few books in the series being particularly unnerving; the latter books are less concerned with the perpetrators and their crimes. Those have the feeling of being plot devices that exist solely to expose some new aspect of each character's personality.

Scarpetta is one of my favorite characters; I never tire of reading about her. Patricia Cornwell is marvelously inventive given the number of books in the series (16, I think?). Each plot follows a pretty standard formula; the real treat is the development of the recurring characters. Each new book is like visiting old friends; those old friends who work in morgues, visit crime scenes, profile suspects for the FBI. You know, those friends.