Cause of Death
Berkeley Press, 1997
ISBN 0425158616
Monika says:
On New Year’s Eve the body of reporter Ted Eddings is found who
apparently died diving on the grounds of an abandoned wharf on the
Elizabeth River. What was he doing there in a cold winter’s night? Was
it an accident or murder? During the post mortem Kay Scarpetta notices
things that make her doubt the accident theory. The case gets even more
complex when somebody from her inner circle is murdered who seemed to be
connected with a dangerous cult.
CAUSE OF DEATH is the seventh installment of the Kay-Scarpetta-series
and my first Cornwell. If you didn’t follow the evolvement of the
heroine it is a bit difficult at first to get into the book that keeps
citing episodes from Kay’s private life. Her relationship with her niece
Lucy, a bright computer expert, is given much room. Lucy’s skills
contribute greatly to the investigation of the murders. As the story
unfolds you learn enough about the characters to not feel completely lost
even if you haven’t read the previous books.
Cornwell tells her story in a calm way and tension builds slowly. For
me the book was not very hard to put down. As we get closer to the
solution, though, the pace picks up. You can tell that the author
carefully researched her subject. She learned how to dive to be able to
realistically describe the diving scenes in CAUSE OF DEATH. The
description of the post mortems are detailed and might shock sensitive
souls, but make the story interesting. All in all I can recommend the book
not only to die-hard fans of the genre, among which I do not count myself
either. |
Any comments? Write us:
Monika Hübner
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