Cornwell has worked as a crime reporter and for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia, so she certainly has the background to bring a sense of authenticity to her medical examiner heroine and first person narrator, Kay Scarpetta. Indeed, I think its the details of this world that raises it above the usual police procedural about a serial killer. (This was published in 1990 when DNA testing was in its infancy--it was striking reading of how back then it wasn't a sure thing it would hold up in court.) The novel mostly flowed well and picked up in pace as it went along. (One misfire was when we get pages of an interview transcript--I thought we should have just got the gist from the police detective and moved on.)
My biggest problem was Scarpetta; she struck me as whiny, angry, paranoid and humorless to me. And Lucy, her ten-year-old niece, is an annoying brat. Also, without getting into spoilers, all I can say is that I found several aspects of the resolution unsatisfying. This novel is the first in a series featuring Scarpetta, and I doubt I'll pick up another, especially since I've seen several reviewers claim her first was her best and that the later novels radically alter style and characterizations in ways that are not to the good.
