Livid: The new Kay Scarpetta thriller from the No.1 bestseller
£4.70
THE THRILLING NEW KAY SCARPETTA MYSTERY FROM THE #1 GLOBAL BESTSELLER
‘I’M STILL SEEING STARS . . . KAY SCARPETTA IS THE SAME GRUMPY, WONDERFUL, RIVETING PERSONALITY SHE’S ALWAYS BEEN AND SHE’S ONLY GETTING BETTER WITH TIME’ JAMES PATTERSON
Murder and mayhem. Scarpetta is back, and she’s racing against the clock . . .
Chief medical examiner Kay Scarpetta is the reluctant star witness in a sensational murder trial when she receives shocking news. The judge’s sister has been found dead. At first glance, it appears to be a home invasion, but then why was nothing stolen, and why is the garden strewn with dead plants and insects?
Although there is no apparent cause of death, Scarpetta recognizes tell-tale signs of the unthinkable, and she knows the worst is yet to come. The forensic pathologist finds herself pitted against a powerful force that returns her to the past, and her time to catch the killer is running out . . .
SCARPETTA WILL RETURN IN UNNATURAL DEATH, COMING SOON
‘RIVETING’ THE TIMES
‘CORNWELL’S ON BLISTERING FORM AND THIS ABSORBING THRILLER WILL KEEP YOU HOOKED’ SUN
‘CORNWELL KNOWS HOW TO CRAFT A MEAN PAGE-TURNER AND LIVID IS NO EXCEPTION’ TELEGRAPH
‘ONE OF THE BEST CRIME WRITERS WRITING TODAY’ GUARDIAN
‘GRIPPING . . . SOUND THE KLAXON, DR KAY SCARPETTA IS BACK’ HEAT
‘SCARPETTA’S 26TH OUTING AND THE PLOTTING REMAINS EVERY BIT AS FRESH AS WHEN WE WERE INTRODUCED TO HER’ BELFAST TELEGRAPH
‘ASTONISHING . . . THIRTY YEARS ON, THERE’S STILL NO OTHER CRIME WRITER LIKE HER’ SUNDAY TIMES
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Additional information
| Publisher | Sphere (25 Oct. 2022) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 2583 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 369 pages |
by Mrs. V. A. Williams
Bought this as a gift. The recipient was really pleased as it’s their favourite author.
by SAMANTHA
I think the skaters books are the best. Thought it was really good. Good story line and hard to put down.
by Lizzie
This series of books has been with us for many a moon and is one of the best series I’ve ever come across. I cant recommend it highly enough
by Deathgun
Having read all books to now, I find this just a little flat. The bones are good, but it’s missing the meat. It is an enjoyable read but doesn’t have the “can’t put down” factor of most of her other books.
by Susan
Always enjoy Patricia Cornwall books.
by Paul S
At the time of writing this review 80% of the ratings for Livid are either four or five stars and I have to admit I don’t fully understand why I am not as enthralled by this story as most others obviously are.
I must say, the opening chapters of the story in which Kay Scarpetta is on the witness stand in court are really gripping and reminded me of those terrific early stories like Postmortem and The Body Farm in terms of drama and intrigue. But then as soon as Scarpetta leaves the courtroom, and before we know the outcome of the case in question, the plot and the quality of writing changes as the story’s focus suddenly shifts to finding out who has murdered the judge’s sister and why. We do eventually get back to the court case late in the novel but by then I felt the plot had been rather rambling and while the various strands of the story are pulled together, the ending seemed rather rushed compared with what had preceded it.
Furthermore, I became increasingly irritated by the amount of ‘fillers’ that seem to pepper this story. We have pages devoted to descriptions of car journeys, sitting in traffic jams, meal preparations, and, although a little more relevant to the plot, the technology behind and impact of, microwave weapons. The crimes and crime scenes are described in quite gory detail that, while shocking and not unexpected from the novels featuring Kay Scarpetta, now strike me as rather gratuitous and a little dated. Perhaps though it is that these days I prefer to let my imagination picture what is happening rather than having to read paragraph after paragraph of graphic depictions of what happens to bodies after death, etc. The story also involves the CIA and the FBI but the reasons for their involvement or the results of their investigations are not always shared with Scarpetta for reasons of secrecy. Okay, fine, but what was the author hoping this would achieve? I found it more irritating than intriguing. Furthermore, there are a couple of mentions of events that don’t seem to have any bearing on the story, such as Covid and the war in Ukraine that had me wondering what was the purpose of including them?
So, overall, as you probably realise, I am a tad disappointed by Livid. I feel that, like many of the more recent books in the series I have read, it doesn’t live up to the quality of those early novels … or perhaps it could simply be that my expectations for Livid had been set too high based on those gripping opening chapters of the story.
by Amazon Customer
Always loved the Scarpetta series but just read Autopsy and Livid back to back and very disappointed. Both end very abruptly with no real natural conclusion. It’s a bit like two separate books. The story and then a brief synopsis of the end with no real bridge between. The story lines are just getting more fanciful by the day and are not really any longer believable. I have lost faith in this series and am not sure where it has to go after this.
by Customer, male.
Rather a plod to finish it. Not up to standard of earlier books, in my opinion.p