content: In Cornwell's 'Scarpetta' series, drama has increasingly yielded to melodrama, and characters have deteriorated into caricature. Moreover, the characatures have become revoltingly self-important and Self-absorbed. Scarpetta herself spends a great deal of time deploring the extent to which others fail to accord her the deference she deserves. Her attitude is understandable, though, since the world (as depicted by Cornwell) revolves around her. She is the target of all the villains, and is idolized everyone else. It's sometimes difficult to remember that she's only a medical examiner. I've about given up on Cornwell. Her non-Scarpetta books were dismal failures, and her latest Scarpetta books haven't been much better.