Status
Available
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Berkley (1997), 368 pages
Description
Fiction. Mystery. Thriller. HTML: Dr. Kay Scarpetta plunges into the murky depths of a ship graveyard to recover the very human remains of Ted Eddings, an investigative reporter. Together with her niece Lucy and police captain Pete Marino, Scarpetta will follow the scents of death and violence to the heart of sinister darkness. San Francisco Chronicle.
User reviews
LibraryThing member delphimo
So far, I still enjoy reading the Scarpetta series, but I foresee a problem later in the series. I figure that misfortune will hit either Benton Wesley or Pete Marino. Also, the killing of at least one of Kay's workers has been happening at an alarming rate. In this episode, I learned more about
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underwater diving than I really wanted to know. This installation followed the Zionists based in Virginia. Since America was established to allow religious freedom, the government is almost powerless in controlling fanatic sects. Cornwell exerts much time on research and her books sometimes delve too deeply into certain subjects. Kay Scarpetta seems to be a robot who never needs sleep and who possesses every license. Kay is a diver, studied law, and is a medical doctor, plus she knows something on every topic. Kay seems less than human at times Show Less
LibraryThing member Britt84
When a reporter is found drowned in an abandoned shipyard, it looks like an accident. Scarpetta soon realises that somebody deliberately poisoned the diver with gas. To find out who killed him, Scarpetta needs to delve into his work: what was a reporter doing in an abandoned shipyard? It soon turns
A nice read with enough twists and tangles to keep you engaged. From a simple murder the story snowballs into a major security threat and Scarpetta plays a pivotal role in getting the truth out.
This novel also involves Scarpetta's niece and other people we have met before in the Scarpetta series.
One thing I always feel when reading Scarpetta is that there is too much personal stuff of Scarpetta involved. It seems like there is always a lot of personal issues intertwined with the investigation which sometimes annoys me. Then again, maybe I should really read the entire series from start to finish some time to really get the full extent of the larger backstory about Scarpetta's personal life.
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out there's much more at stake than a murder case.A nice read with enough twists and tangles to keep you engaged. From a simple murder the story snowballs into a major security threat and Scarpetta plays a pivotal role in getting the truth out.
This novel also involves Scarpetta's niece and other people we have met before in the Scarpetta series.
One thing I always feel when reading Scarpetta is that there is too much personal stuff of Scarpetta involved. It seems like there is always a lot of personal issues intertwined with the investigation which sometimes annoys me. Then again, maybe I should really read the entire series from start to finish some time to really get the full extent of the larger backstory about Scarpetta's personal life.
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LibraryThing member miketroll
One for lovers of gruesome autopsy reports. After all Cornwell' s serial killers in Richmond VA, I don't understand why anyone still lives there.
LibraryThing member BrianDewey
Cornwell, Patricia. Cause of Death. Berkley Books, New York, 1996. This is the second Cornwell book that I've read. I started this on the plane flight home from Dulles and finished it in bed that night. It wasn't nearly as compelling as Postmortem. As I mentioned in that annotation, this genre is
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all about the crime and the criminal, and frankly, nameless post-Waco, post-Oklahoma City militia villians who take over a nuclear power plant in the final 10% of the book just don't do it for me. I didn't care about the criminals, I didn't care about the victims: but I cared more about this than the movie United showed on that Westbound flight. Show Less
LibraryThing member JimBrewington
Okay, well written, ending seemed anticlimatic, very little humor, good technicalities/technology.
LibraryThing member miyurose
This was a pretty good one, though the plot meandered around a bit. There were loose ends that were never really tied up.
LibraryThing member Darrol
This was good up until the terrorist take over of the nuclear power plant. Than it stretched credibility.
LibraryThing member JoAnnSmithAinsworth
I liked her other books better. This one seemed to take time over trivia and gallop past the exciting plot scenes. I felt very distanced from the story.
LibraryThing member skinglist
My first ever Patricia Cornwell. Began "reading" this as an audio book while going to/from Boston on Saturday and had to run to B&N when I returned home to buy the book to find out how it ended.
I've never read COrnwell before but have heard good things about her Scarpetta series and I think I'll
I've never read COrnwell before but have heard good things about her Scarpetta series and I think I'll
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now read them. I really liked her character development in Danny and getting to know Lucie and Marino Show Less
LibraryThing member FMRox
Virginia Medical Examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta investigates with the help of Sgt Pete Marino the mysterious diving death of a local reporter.
The plot is a real thrill seeker in this 8th novel of the Scarpetta series. Kay and Benton's realtionship is at a stalemate with some hoep for advancement. Lucy,
The plot is a real thrill seeker in this 8th novel of the Scarpetta series. Kay and Benton's realtionship is at a stalemate with some hoep for advancement. Lucy,
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Kay's niece, is jumping between the FBI's Hostage Team and college at age 19. Marino suffers from anxiety attacks. The ending is just like the end of an average high adventure film with no resolution. Okay reading if you don't love character development and plot-centric novels. Show Less
LibraryThing member MsBeautiful
Good mystery, especially for someone who likes science/anatomy
LibraryThing member EmScape
I think this is the best Kay Scarpetta book I’ve yet read, which makes me more hopeful for the rest of the series than I was after reading the last one. Kay’s latest case comes to her while she is covering for a co-worker in the Tidewater district. A reporter Kay is familiar with has died while
Kay is also worried about her neice, Lucy, who is now assigned to work with an elite FBI unit and regularly put in harm’s way. Her relationship with Benton Wesley continues to be confusing and detective Marino is…the same as ever. Throughout the series, I have come to care about these characters, and Cornwell does a good job of developing issues in their lives as well as presenting a compelling mystery and realistic technical details. Highly recommended for fans of murder and forensic mystery series.
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diving in a restricted area belonging to the US Navy. When the distrurbing bible/handbook of a local terrorist cult turns up in the victim’s house, it seems there is more going on here than meets the eye and consequences could be disasterous to the entire world. Kay is also worried about her neice, Lucy, who is now assigned to work with an elite FBI unit and regularly put in harm’s way. Her relationship with Benton Wesley continues to be confusing and detective Marino is…the same as ever. Throughout the series, I have come to care about these characters, and Cornwell does a good job of developing issues in their lives as well as presenting a compelling mystery and realistic technical details. Highly recommended for fans of murder and forensic mystery series.
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LibraryThing member Bettyb30
Patricia Cornwell knows how to write a story that keeps you interested yet make it personal and bring you into her home with her family too. That makes for a truely enjoyable read.
LibraryThing member Grandy
Very good book as is normal for Patricia Cornwell, Kay Scarpetta keeps us wondering throughout this story, and her and her niece come out as the herons as usual. It is a story that is a little to real, it is very possible that such a terrible thing could happen in our world today, shows that we
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have to be on our toes watching for terrorist all the time. Show Less
LibraryThing member AliceAnna
I found the plot to be a bit contrived in this one. I know it was pre-9/11, but even before that people weren't going to just waltz into a nuclear power plant with fake ID's. And her going in instead of a trained Fed? I just didn't buy it. And that the guys were so gullible to buy her con? Not so
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much. It's a shame because the characters were pretty good (except maybe the stock bad guy) but I just couldn't get past the plot implausibilities. Show Less
LibraryThing member dickmanikowski
I swear I have a love-hate relationship with the Kay Scarpetta novels of Patricia Cornwell. Time after time, I find myself asking myself why I'm finishing this damned book. Then I go ahead and finish reading the damned book.
This is one of those books. As it veered more and more into the realm of
This is one of those books. As it veered more and more into the realm of
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improbability, I kept on reading it. Show Less
LibraryThing member JenniferRobb
I have read other Kay Scarpetta novels, but not necessarily in their series order. Oddly, the one I read just before this also dealt with a body needing to be recovered from water. This one was earlier in the series, and I did find it interesting to already know some future events that will occur
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in the series while reading this earlier book. Show Less
LibraryThing member Ameise1
Also this Scarpetta case was again very captivating. On New Year's Eve, Scarpetta is called to an unusual case. A reporter dove on a 'ship cemetery' and drowned. It soon becomes clear that nothing is as it seems. Scarpetta is prevented from clarifying the case in several ways. Even a police officer
Who has something to cover up? Who threatens Scarpetta and her friends? Why does the FBI have so much interest in this case? A race begins with time.
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threatens her and tries to interfere with the investigation. Then her employee is murdered.Who has something to cover up? Who threatens Scarpetta and her friends? Why does the FBI have so much interest in this case? A race begins with time.
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LibraryThing member readingover50
I have mixed feelings about this book. It was a pleasant way to spend a few hours, but the plot seemed unbelievable especially at the end. The book starts with a mysterious death that Scarpetta believes is murder, but everyone else wants to cover up and call an accident. There are attempts on
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Scarpetta's life, harassment and threats, but she still keeps trying to solve the case. Eventually the book involves into a terrorist/hostage story. The resolution seems a little fast, and Lucy's connection seems a little forced. This book was ok, but not the best in the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member PaulaGalvan
I love the Kay Scarpetta series and have read every book except #7 & 8—which I recently found and added to my library—and couldn't wait to devour. Cause of Death is a story that starts with a mysterious drowning and slowly explodes into a high-octane-powered medical/police thriller, never
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letting up until the explosive conclusion where Kay faces fanatical terrorists—alone. I love how Patricia Cornwell creates complex characters and uses dialog to move the story along. Her knowledge of medical procedures and how she weaves trivial tidbits into her plot surpasses the best forensic storytellers. Having already read the entire series, I have the advantage of knowing the direction Kay's relationships with Lucy, Pete, and Wesley take. Still, it was nice to read about them again at the beginning. I can't wait to read #8. Show Less
LibraryThing member ScottKalas
What had been an OKAY series went spiraling downward in the 7th book 'Cause Death' the series has become a Kay and cousin Lucy save the world team.
There are enough other reviews that give you a synopsis so I won't rehash it but will say the characters are getting to a beyond reality even for a
The other three main characters are getting a bit far fetched from anything believable, especially considering the positions they hold.
Cousin Lucy a rising star in the FBI has become geek of geeks when it comes to computers and apparently the only FBI agent inn the field at least in Virginia.
Wesley cousin Lucy's boss and a top positioned FBI agent is becoming a pussy whipped agent passionately in need of Kay despite her being a 4-star B towards hIm.
Even Marino the one time favorite character has become a joke as being nothing but a fat, slob, nearing a psychotic breakdown.
In short a big disappointment to a series I 'was' enjoying
There are enough other reviews that give you a synopsis so I won't rehash it but will say the characters are getting to a beyond reality even for a
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fictional character, are. Scarpetta has become a 'Kay knows everything and can do anything better then anybody' character, The other three main characters are getting a bit far fetched from anything believable, especially considering the positions they hold.
Cousin Lucy a rising star in the FBI has become geek of geeks when it comes to computers and apparently the only FBI agent inn the field at least in Virginia.
Wesley cousin Lucy's boss and a top positioned FBI agent is becoming a pussy whipped agent passionately in need of Kay despite her being a 4-star B towards hIm.
Even Marino the one time favorite character has become a joke as being nothing but a fat, slob, nearing a psychotic breakdown.
In short a big disappointment to a series I 'was' enjoying
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LibraryThing member SLuce
Listened to this on CD. Fun mystery, liked the reader C. J. Critt.
LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
Kay Scarpetta returns for her seventh outing, and finds herself called out on New Year’s Eve to a naval base where the body of a diver has been found deep in a harbour used as a parking lot for old naval vessels awaiting decommissioning. She has been covering for one of her regional deputies who
It turns out that she knows the dead person, as they had been a journalist and had frequently dealt with her office. While many of her relations with the media had been difficult, with a tendency to misrepresent her and her work, this journalist had been reliable and conscientious in his reporting.
The naval officers are keen to have the death signed off as an unfortunate drowning, but Dr Scarpetta is not convinced. Her autopsy reveals that he had in fact been murdered, and that cyanide had been introduced into his air supply. This revelation is not welcomed, and she finds herself subjected to personal and official attacks. As usual, she finds herself working closely with her exceptionally irritating niece Lucy, the jaded senior Homicide Detective, Pete Marino, and leading FBI profiler Benton Wesley. Readers of the previous books in this series will be aware of the complications that dealing with all of them can entail. Oh, and there is a local cult-driven commune that has been making ever more threatening pronouncements, and they seem to be involved somehow in the journalists’ death.
While the storyline is fairly gripping, I think that Patricia Cornwell might well have jumped her personal shark here, taking what had been a robust, engaging and essentially plausible series and leading it into more fanciful, and deeply unbelievable waters. It was still an entertaining novel, but vastly removed from the excellent books with which the series opened.
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has returned to their native Britain following the death of their mother. Because of the nature of the site, naval officers are officiating at the locus, and she finds the local police decidedly unhelpful and obstructive.It turns out that she knows the dead person, as they had been a journalist and had frequently dealt with her office. While many of her relations with the media had been difficult, with a tendency to misrepresent her and her work, this journalist had been reliable and conscientious in his reporting.
The naval officers are keen to have the death signed off as an unfortunate drowning, but Dr Scarpetta is not convinced. Her autopsy reveals that he had in fact been murdered, and that cyanide had been introduced into his air supply. This revelation is not welcomed, and she finds herself subjected to personal and official attacks. As usual, she finds herself working closely with her exceptionally irritating niece Lucy, the jaded senior Homicide Detective, Pete Marino, and leading FBI profiler Benton Wesley. Readers of the previous books in this series will be aware of the complications that dealing with all of them can entail. Oh, and there is a local cult-driven commune that has been making ever more threatening pronouncements, and they seem to be involved somehow in the journalists’ death.
While the storyline is fairly gripping, I think that Patricia Cornwell might well have jumped her personal shark here, taking what had been a robust, engaging and essentially plausible series and leading it into more fanciful, and deeply unbelievable waters. It was still an entertaining novel, but vastly removed from the excellent books with which the series opened.
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Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1996
Physical description
368 p.; 4.26 inches
ISBN
0425158616 / 9780425158616