MT Review: The Bone Bed (A Scarpetta Novel) [Hardcover]

I've finished "The Bone Bed" 20th book in her Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell.

Product Description

A woman has vanished while digging a dinosaur bone bed in the remote wilderness of Canada. Somehow, the only evidence has made its way to the inbox of Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta, over two thousand miles away in Boston. She has no idea why. But as events unfold with alarming speed, Scarpetta begins to suspect that the paleontologist’s disappearance is connected to a series of crimes much closer to home: a gruesome murder, inexplicable tortures, and trace evidence from the last living creatures of the dinosaur age.

When she turns to those around her, Scarpetta finds that the danger and suspicion have penetrated even her closest circles. Her niece Lucy speaks in riddles. Her lead investigator, Pete Marino, and FBI forensic psychologist and husband, Benton Wesley, have secrets of their own. Feeling alone and betrayed, Scarpetta is tempted by someone from her past as she tracks a killer both cunning and cruel.

This is Kay Scarpetta as you have never seen her before. The Bone Bed is a must read for any fan of this series, or an ideal starting point for new readers.

About the Author

PATRICIA CORNWELL’s most recent bestsellers include Red Mist, Port Mortuary, and Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper — Case Closed. Her earlier works include Postmortem — the only novel to win five major crime awards in a single year — and Cruel and Unusual, which won Britain’s prestigious Gold Dagger Award for the best crime novel of 1993. Dr. Kay Scarpetta herself won the 1999 Sherlock Award for the best detective created by an American author.

Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Hardcover: 480 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (October 16, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399157565
ISBN-13: 978-0399157561

My Review:

The Bone Bed returns Kay Scarpetta back to her roots with a very truly terrifying case.  It's like a continuation from "The Last Precinct with a strong, independent no-nonsense vulnerable older Scarpetta.  It was a more personal journey for Kay with her noticing that she is no longer a 20 or 30 year old anymore.  She is having problems with Benton her FBI husband who is keeping secrets about his relationship with a new partner, Marino with his new Twitter obsession and Lucy her niece.

As Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta investigates a case where a woman has vanished while digging a dinosaur bone bed in the remote wilderness of Canada she connects it to recent crimes at home - gruesome murder, horrifying torture and trace evidence from an ancient turtle the last living creature from the dinosaur age.

This was a terrifying and dark book with Scarpetta trying to figure out a riddle which involves a severed ear, an ancient but endangered leather back turtle and a dead mostly mummified woman's body from the cold bay.

5/5

Thanks Penguin Canada for sending me this book to review, greatly appreciated!