Dust Hardcover – November 12, 2013

AGAIN ANOTHER GREAT SEQUENCE. GREAT AUTHOR

"Dust" is better than many of Cornwell's recent novels, but that isn't saying much. It could be a standalone. Through her main character, Boston Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta, she provides the reader with [too] frequent discussions of Lucy's past, including having a narcisstic, disinterested mother (Scarpetta's sister); Lucy's brief, conflict-laden careers with the FBI and ATF; Lucy and Scarpetta''s close but conflicted relationship; Scarpetta's belief that Lucy is a sociopath; Lucy's lesbianism, and Lucy's unique and impressive technological skills. Scarpetta's similarly complicated and long relationship with Detective Marino, now no longer her employee, is labored over ad nauseum for the first third of the novel, and then Marino essentially disappears until the book's final few pages. It is Scarpetta's relationship with her husband Benton that is the most interesting. We have known for it seems decades that their affair turned marriage, his shocking "death", her grieving, and his reappearance has been fraught with passion and conflict, and all of that is present in this novel. His brilliance as a profiler is on display. But the nuances of their relationship - good and bad- are revealed bit by bit. There is a sexual current throughout the novel which is palpable, such as when Lucy is in her flight suit with many pockets or her cargo shorts; flying her helicopter or driving her custom super SUV with its throaty roar; or when Lucy discusses Gail. In addition to lesbianism, there is a transgender issue as well. Scarpetta comments on Marino's physical size and masculinity; she flashes back to the time she and Marino had too much wine at her house and things got out of control between them; and believes that Marino is still struggling with controlling his true feelings for her; she may harbor some less than professional feelings for him as well, but they will always remain unacted upon. The contrast between Scarpetta and Marino is expertly drawn by their treatment of their respective dogs.It is Scarpetta's comments about Benton, though, that are most compelling sexual devices, and Cornwell does these brilliantly and subtly, such as describing when they met while he was still married; their immediate sexual attraction; his impeccable and masculine physical appearance; how they lightly brush up against one another while walking or are walking or standing near each other; when she touches the "small muscles" in his arm as he shifts the gears of his Porsche turbo; the "throaty" sound of the car. Scarpetta discusses their past and present sex life, her sadness when Benton "disappears: and her disappointment when he remains loyal to his employer despite its shabby treatment of him and disregard for his opinions. It can appear that what keeps Benton and Kay together is solely their common professional interests, uncompromising professional integrity, and sex. It certainly is not their backgrounds, which are completely opposite. Yet, at the end, in a completely unconventional family holiday setting, when the main characters are together at last, Benton doesn't miss a beat and he and Kay carry on as supportive partners in every sense despite the obvious dysfunction of Kay's relatives, which we have just learned more about. Her and Lucy's compassion for others is also nicely displayed.I found Cornwell's use of Scarpetta "telling" this novel to the reader in the present tense to be very annoying. Involving Scarpetta in the aftermath of the Newton killings as a plot device was gratuitous, unnecessary and deeply offensive. Additionally, Cornwell/Scarpetta devolve into excruciating amount of unnecessary detail about things that really don't matter, which practice reaches its height in Scarpetta and Benton's search of a building, and later in a narrative about circuses, elephants and trains. Is this Cornwell showing off her knowledge of art, Italianate interior decorating, and design? Also, I get that Scarpetta is supposed to be more than the average medical examiner, and that means that she will continue to seek to find out who caused a death and why, rather than simply "how", and this is what continuously gets her in trouble (although she didn't seem to be in the dog house with anyone in this book, though we were constantly reminded of her past problems in this regard) and consequently, serve as plots for Cornwell's Scarpetta novels.Despite these flaws and criticisms, the book was a page turner for me, and the perpetrator was a surprise. But the involvement of others remains muddled.

After being completely dissatisfied with the previous five to six novels, I was hesitant to pay the 'new release' price for Dust, but I am glad that I did.::A FEW MILD SPOILERS INCLUDED::Cornwell and her series of characters are all FINALLY returning to their roots and moving away from the dark shadows of drawn out regret and resentment that have followed them for quite some time now. Scarpetta is back to being a Chief Medical Examiner, Lucy is hacking into things, Benton is a profiling for the FBI, and Marino is a city detective. The fact that Cornwell has brought her characters full circle is what is going to make this book attractive to her fans who have been missing the 90's. It's almost as if they are back in Virginia, only, of course they aren't, but the dynamic between the characters and how they work and interact with one another reminds me quite a bit of Virginia.Overall, I really enjoyed DUST thanks to several major components:- Minimal whining, bickering, resentment, and rambling- Profiling is more prevalent with Benton back to doing what he does best (more of a psych thriller edge)- Old fashioned detective work is used in combination with high tech forensic tools (versus all gadgets)- Benton is actually present (no longer resentful, distant, and secretive)- Marino has returned to his vices and is back to being his macho, yet, insecure self- Lucy is flying choppers, developing new software, and in a stable, rather than destructive, relationship- Kay is not attacked by a serial killer (that was getting old)I think long time fans will appreciate Cornwell's return to her roots. Naturally, with everything that has happened in the previous novels, things will never be completely as they were, but the storyline is no longer composed of a sad song that refuses to end. While some resentment and insecurities are still present within the characters (particularly Marino), Cornwell has toned it down and returned to the dynamics that made her books so successful to begin with.The only thing about this book that bothered me was her references to Sandy Hook, as if she, Scarpetta, were actually there. When the book opens Scarpetta has just returned from the scene and is deeply disturbed by what she witnessed and experienced. Throughout the book she has various flash backs to blood, gore, and the bodies of small children. While I find it reasonable that an expert of Scarpetta's fictional stature would be called in to provide expertise in such a case, I found it both troubling and disrespectful that she used this tragedy to further uplift and heroine-ize Scarpetta. As I flipped through the pages, I couldn't help but wonder how the families of these beautiful children would feel knowing that their child's death was used as a tragic stage for plot written to entertain and thrill. I personally found it tasteless. When you make millions of dollars writing fictional books, I think you should be able to create your own twisted scene, without cashing in on the misfortune and tragedy of those who have suffered such an unimaginable loss.

I stopped reading books by Patricia Cornwell a while ago. The series was incredible as the start, some of the best novels I've read. Then Lucy discovered helicopters and computers and Benton ... Well, you know.The books stopped being thrillers and were instead soap opera.I miss those early books, so I thought I'd come back and see if things had improved. Sadly not. This is a mess. It's not simply that the story doesn't work, but the writing is all over the place. I don't know what happened with the editing, but I've read self published novels better constructed than this. There are typos (not many, but too many) and sentences that make no sense. I read paragraphs which essentially repeated dialogue of information from a previous page.Sadly I think I need to say goodbye to Kay and Patricia again.

Being a long-term Scarpetta fan, I so wanted to like this book. It started well, giving me hope, but even allowing for Kay's flu, taking about 80 pages to reach the crime scene seemed overlong and made me wonder whether the first person monologue was going to be a good vehicle for the narrative on this instance. This was a low point for me and I was pleased when Kay could emerse herself in the forensic investigation. However, she remained at the scene for so long that, lover of procedural or forensic detail though I am, I began to feel the action was happening in real time and wondered if there was scope in the rapidly decreasing number of pages a full storyline.In the end, it wasn't a bad story, but certainly not a great one. Benton's arrival at the scene seemed rather unlikely - though admittedly useful for the plot - and I found the constant repetition of what Kay couldn't reveal to Marino an annoyance rather than an insight into the pressure and exasperstion of conducting the case in this far from ideal way.If you are new to the Scarpetta cases, this is not the best place to begin. Quite apart from the earlier novels being better, the characters of Kay, Lucy, Marino and Benton develop and the dynamics between them are constantly changing throughout the series. You will therefore miss a lot of the nuances of characterisation if you plunge in at this point.

I’ve read almost all of the Scarpetta books and generally enjoy the stories, ripping through the books in a few hours, but the protagonist’s planet-sized ego really does start to wear you down and this book has taken me much longer to finish, far les compelling. The narrative in Dust drags out so much and just reads like extended not-so-humblebrags, viz. “I am the superior expert and it’s very painful for me to watch all of these inferior and corrupt colleagues bungling everything” “My husband is the most handsome, smart and respected man alive which simply confirms my superiority” “Marino has been desperately in love with me for years obviously and although he is a revolting pig-man and way beneath me I’m not above exploiting his tiresome obsession with me” “my niece is devoted to me and very smart and sexy and rich and far too complex for you mere mortals to fully comprehend” “I am an all round perfect human being and everything around me is perfect and top of the line and oh hey I am also an expert chef” “most psycho killers are only doing what they do to impress me because they correctly recognise that I am the most important person in law enforcement in the whole world”. All to the point where the actual murders are incidental at best.

I had written a full review for one of the previous Scarpetta books explaining why, after so many years of loving them I had finally, reluctantly decided to give up so I won't go into all that again. I was persuaded back into Dust by someone who told me the series had picked up and was looking more like itself.To be clear the rating I have given this one is based on the first quarter of the book only - at which point I just lost the will to live and (reluctantly again) put it aside.The star is for the idea of the plot which could have been brilliant. The trouble is the prose - repetitive, rambling and just for gods sake get to the point. And seriously the Marino/Scarpetta thing is beyond ridiculous now. The characters are all caricature, Scarpetta is a shadow of her former self and no longer has any redeeming qualities for me personally as a reader. Frankly I just want to slap her.Never again.Source: Purchased Copy.

And as usual a little too long, I missed this one, pleased to find one I hadn’t read. I get a little bored with the protagonist’s endless care for the appalling Marino, an oaf that any self respecting criminal would have shot years ago. But apart from that fine.