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Title: What has happened to Kay Scarpetta?
Review: I am an avid Patricia Cornwell reader but my interest dims with each new book. True fans will be very disappointed by this latest Kay Scarpetta installment. This book is poorly written, the dialogue is wooden and trite, the characters don't have nearly the depth she usually provides, and the new love interest is a total fraud, not Kay's type at all (what the heck was wrong with Benton? That was a great storyline!). I also could have done without the romance novel scenes, and Ms. Cornwell shouldn't try to write them - not her forte! Even her villains are boring and predictable now, and her forensic pathology research and descriptions are weak. "Black Notice" was clearly written to satisfy a book contract and doesn't even come close to the quality of her early work. Ms. Cornwell should re-read "Postmortem" and revisit the writer she used to be before she attempts the next one.
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