Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell

Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 480

Publisher - William Morrow

Source - Amazon

Blurb from Goodreads

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is working a suspicious death scene in Cambridge, Massachusetts when an emergency alert sounds on her phone. A video link lands in her text messages and seems to be from her computer genius niece Lucy. But how can it be? It’s clearly a surveillance film of Lucy taken almost twenty years ago.

As Scarpetta watches she begins to learn frightening secrets about her niece, whom she has loved and raised like a daughter. That film clip and then others sent soon after raise dangerous legal implications that increasingly isolate Scarpetta and leave her confused, worried, and not knowing where to turn. She doesn’t know whom she can tell – not her FBI husband Benton Wesley or her investigative partner Pete Marino. Not even Lucy.

In this new novel, Cornwell launches these unforgettable characters on an intensely psychological odyssey that includes the mysterious death of a Hollywood mogul’s daughter, aircraft wreckage on the bottom of the sea in the Bermuda Triangle, a grisly gift left in the back of a crime scene truck, and videos from the past that threaten to destroy Scarpetta’s entire world and everyone she loves. The diabolical presence behind what unfolds seems obvious - but strangely, not to the FBI. Certainly that’s the message they send when they raid Lucy’s estate and begin building a case that could send her to prison for the rest of her life.




My Review

This is book 23 of the Kay Scarpetta series, I haven't read them all nor in order, I generally pick them up as I go. Kay is still struggling with recovery from a previous assault/injury which impacts upon her physical and dare I say mental state? Called out to a dead body, daughter of a famous star the team are making sure it has been an accident and no foul play. Scarpetta gets sent a link to a video to her mobile phone whilst at the scene and views it. Is Kays past coming back, is a killer tormenting her? Can she concentrate on the job at hand and why are the FBI at her niece Lucy's home searching and ripping it apart?

Well it has been ages since I read Cornwell and as I said I tend to just read the books as I find them so the timeline jumps a fair bit. So much has transpired and Kay seems so preoccupied with an encounter with a serial killer and the attack on her life. Lucy is under investigation by the FBI and as usual has an attitude about it. The book is drenched in a negative feel and tone, there is a whole long of throwbacks and Kay internal thoughts and kickbacks to things that have transpired. Her relationship with Lucy, Benton, Mario all the problems and issues or the past. A lot seemed like re telling of previous books which for me isn't an issue because I have been out of the loop. I think if you have been reading the previous books you would feel a bit short changed as there wasn't a huge focus on the actual current case.

3/5 for me this time, I do like the writing of this author and as I hadn't read the last few books so it was nice to catch up. I know it has irritated fans because there hasn't been a lot of input or investigation to the actual case at hand. More raking over old ground and lots of focus on a previous killer in another book (or possible books). I would read more by this author as I do like her but it would be nice to see Scarpetta go back to who she was in the earlier books and more in depth focus on the investigation at hand rather than internal thoughts and throwbacks.

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Portrait Of A Killer Jack The Ripper Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell

Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Publisher - Time Warner

Pages - 451

Blurb from the back cover

Between August and November 1888 five women were murdered in Whitechapel. The gruesome nature of their deaths caused panic and fear for months in the East End, and gave rise to the sobriquet which was to become shorthand for a serial killer - JACK THE RIPPER.

For over a hundred years the identity of the killer has remained one of the world's greatest unsolved mysteries. Until now. Using her formidable range of forensic and technical skills, Patricia Cornwell has applied the rigorous discipline of twenty-first-century police investigation to the extant material, and here presents the hard evidence that the perpetrator of the Whitechapel murders was the world famous artist, Walter Sickert.

With her knowledge of criminal investigation and her consummate skills as a bestselling writer, Patricia Cornwell has produced a book which is as compelling as it is authentic - the definitive account of one of the world's most famous murder mysteries.




My Review

I heard a lot of criticism of this book and some positive reviews before I started this one. Any fans of crime fiction know the name Patricia Cornwell and I have enjoyed a few of her books over the years. I have always been interested in the theories put forward about Jack The Ripper and there is so much controversy and speculation about the killers identity, even over a century later! So of course I had to buy and read this myself.

So, what did I like about it? A new potential killer thrown into the mix, as for me, I have never heard Walter mentioned as a suspect let alone outright named as the killer. Cornwell not only puts forward this chap as the absolute killer, she debunks the idea of some of the other suspects listed previously and explains why they couldn't be the killer. The book gives a good bit of evidence and recount of the crimes, she also puts in many murders that she believes was the Rippers work too again I hadn't heard of these ones.

What didn't I like, the book says case closed, she has found the killer, I disagree. She makes a good case putting forward a new suspect but so much is could have, points to, may have been. This is not definitive proof and it is almost arrogant to claim you are the absolute when so much of the findings are possibles, could be and if he was or if he did.

Regardless, it is an interesting read, the book has photographs of the victims and of some of the correspondence sent in from the Ripper. Some of the details of the crimes and horrors carried out to the bodies is for tough and gorey reading so caution if you have issue reading details like that. Overall, whether you agree with Cornwell or not, I would say you would enjoy it or find it interesting for discussion if you have an interest or opinion on one of the oldest unsolved crimes, 3/5 for me this time.

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