"Scarpetta" by Patricia Cornwell (G.P. Putnam's Sons, $28)
Patricia Cornwell celebrates the 20th anniversary of her first Kay Scarpetta novel with her latest crime novel, "Scarpetta." Cornwell revolutionized the forensic novel with her astonishing accuracy and attention to procedures in "Postmortem." Twenty years later, she does not falter from her form.
The emotional powerhouse ride of Scarpetta's last venture in "The Book of the Dead" left her reeling from longtime ally Pete Marino's betrayal.
A year later, with Scarpetta married and Marino back working in New York City for the district attorney, a new killer requires them to put personal issues aside and work together. Distracting from the case is the emergence of an anonymous gossip columnist parlaying fictitious accounts of Scarpetta's past onto the Internet.
The main suspect in the slaying of a fellow little person is Oscar Bane, who proclaims his innocence to Scarpetta. He insists on her involvement in finding his girlfriend's killer because he thinks she and Scarpetta were collaborating on a book.
Phony e-mails detail the victim communicating with an imposter posing as Scarpetta. Finding the killer becomes personal as the impostor and gossip columnist set out to tarnish Scarpetta's name.
Readers of Cornwell have watched the evolution of her characters over the past two decades: gawky Lucy transforming into a militia computer genius, Marino turning into an alcoholic predator, and loyal love interest Benton becoming Kay's husband.
In "Scarpetta," Cornwell concocts a thank-you to her fans by delivering the same quality crime fiction as she did in 1988.
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