SYNOPSIS

A serial killer brutally murders three women in the city of Richmond, Virginia, and Kay Scarpetta, a forensic doctor in charge of the laboratory that analyses the cases, tries to build a profile of the killer through the scientific analysis of the evidence. The tension increases when another victim is discovered in which the serial killer has left an important clue for the investigation, and when an internal sabotage puts Scarpetta’s forensic career at risk. No hypothesis is excluded, the killer could kill again and she could be the next one.

REVIEW

This detective novel really struck me, especially for the scientific analysis and the investigative process of the two main characters, Scarpetta and Inspector Marino. Despite the fact that there are no twists in the development of the story, the desire to know who the culprit is, kept me attentive during the reading, looking for significant details on the identity of the serial killer. The story is told through the analytical and subjective vision, in the first person, of the protagonist, doctor Scarpetta. Cornwell uses a fluid and meticulous writing, where verbs and adjectives show everything that happens in the narration, in the reader’s mind.
Likewise, each character has a quality or a flaw that makes them credible and original. As for the descriptions of the places where the story is set, they are succinct or almost non-existent, but there is no need for more details in this regard, as the writer, at all times, takes care to provide the reader with the right amount of information to place them in the different situations.
Finally, the choice of direct and indirect speech is accurate in every context, and the author knows how to hold the time through reflections, and make it flow through dialogues, where necessary.