Port Mortuary by Patricia Cornwell

Nanobots: good vs evil..., March 27, 2011

This is the 18th Patricia Cornwell novel featuring Kay Scarpetta that I've read. I've also read her Andy Brazil series. I must say that I have to agree with other reviewers who are longing for this author to resurrect the thrills and suspense that were hallmarks of the first books she published over 20 years ago! The evil perpetrators, the gory crime scenes, the forensic science, the likable characters, the passion, and the basic storyline of previous books are all missing here.

This premise of this book was interesting enough -- the new cutting-edge technology of nanobots and virtual autopsy were fascinating and thought-provoking, but the plot lacked the magical ingredient of making me care about the case and I can't say that I was racing through the pages to a thrilling conclusion. Kay is given to long bouts of introspection and it seems that she can't get any answers or straight talk from any of her cohort -- including Benton, Lucy and Marino. It reads as if she were a weak tool of all the powerful men in her life and is no longer the strong, independent, powerful woman that I had come to admire over the years. The mystery in this case is complex and convoluted and limped to the end with a whimper though there was the obligatory "Kay almost dies" scene.

In conclusion, the book is one that true fans will read because they are vested in Kay and the other characters we've grown to know and care about. It's not one of those books that you can't put down or that will keep you up all night, but it's readable escapist crime fiction.