content: Patricia Cornwell's books have been falling off in quality over time, but the drop here is particularly steep. Part of the problem is her always haphazard plotting -- half of the problems and red herrings thrown up here never get explained. But her prose -- so alive and vibrant in those early books -- has become choked with cliches, so embarrassing to read that you wonder whether she's even assigned an editor nowadays. As for Scarpetta herself, well, Cornwell must suffer the most extreme case of 'I love my character' since Dorothy L Sayers. Kay Scarpetta isn't a character anymore, she's a Superhero: omnipotent, with Godlike wisdom, telling us all What's Wrong With The World. Lucy continues her decline from a sympathetic character to Wronged Genius Who Can Do Anything. She desperately needs killing off. Avoid at all costs and go back to those marvellous early books instead.