To Kay Scarpetta, things seem more and more bizarre, as one of her assistants, Susan Story, starts acting out of character during an autopsy. She also realizes that her files have been tampered with and asks for the help of her computer-wizard niece Lucy, who flies to Richmond to spend Christmas vacations with her.  Kay, who is still mourning the death of her lover Mark, will have a hard time confronting her now grown-up and sometimes blunt niece, and a even harder time with the unfolding of the investigation, as she herself becomes a suspect...

Cruel and Unusual is even better than the preceding volumes of the Kay Scarpetta series. The plot becomes more and more complex and convoluted, with many surprises and, this time, a loose element that makes the reader want to pick up the next volumes soon. With every book, Patricia Cornwell shows new aspects of this fascinating field that is forensic science, and the scene where Kay inspects a ten-year-old scene of crime is particularly striking...

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© Discussing Books, 11/27/2005