Autopsy (Kay Scarpetta #25)

Patricia Cornwell

Scarpetta is back! In this twenty-fifth in the electrifying, landmark #1 bestselling thriller series chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta hunts an ingenious killer who has mastered cutting-edge science for the most nefarious ends.

Forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta has returned to Virginia as the chief medical examiner. Finding herself the new girl in town once again after being away for many years, she’s inherited an overbearing secretary and a legacy of neglect and possible corruption.

She and her husband Benton Wesley, now a forensic psychologist with the U.S. Secret Service, have relocated to Old Town Alexandria where she’s headquartered five miles from the Pentagon in a post-pandemic world that’s been torn by civil and political unrest. Just weeks on the job, she’s called to a scene by railroad tracks where a woman’s body has been shockingly displayed, her throat cut down to the spine, and as Scarpetta begins to follow the trail, it leads unnervingly close to her own historic neighborhood.

At the same time, a catastrophe occurs in a top secret private laboratory in outer space, and at least two scientists aboard are found dead. Appointed to the highly classified Doomsday Commission that specializes in sensitive national security cases, Scarpetta is summoned to the White House Situation Room and tasked with finding out what happened. But even as she works the first crime scene in space remotely, an apparent serial killer strikes again. And this time, Scarpetta could be in greater danger than ever before.

In this latest novel in her groundbreaking Kay Scarpetta series, Patricia Cornwell captivates readers with the shocking twists, high-wire tension, and forensic detail that she is famous for, proving once again why she’s the world’s #1 bestselling crime writer. 

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

(4 / 5) Patricia Cornwell made me seriously consider a career as a medical examiner, that’s how good she is. I read all the first books in her series, devouring each one and scrambling for the next. 

I feel you can read Scarpetta novels as stand-alones, if you’re willing to let slide the details you get about personal lives. Because while the stories change, the personal lives progress in each book and I’ve been sorely missing out!!

What I love about this series is that it’s very science-based information about the bodies, death, how it happened and more. It is very detailed, but very respectful. Cornwell has a way of making each item interesting and important, while still maintaining dignity of the deceased.

“A lot of people don’t (like the morgue), and it’s always struck me as silly, because it’s not the dead who will hurt you.”

“People usually don’t need my help when the news is good.”

“I have to remind myself regularly that what’s routine for me is aberrant to polite society.”

It ended a bit abruptly, and lost a lot of its steam. It still wrapped up well but the change in pace lost me a bit. I loved being back with these characters and getting updates on their lives. I’ve looked back into the books I have read so I can pick up where I left off. The fact that this series is 25 books long gives you an inkling of the amount of readers that love it.

Content Summary: F words: None, minimal language, crime scenes, forensic details, corpses, autopsy, poisoning, blood, murder, talk of violent crimes. 

Thank you to Biblio Lifestyle and William Morrow Books for the gifted copy and the chance to be on the tour!

The book released November 30, 2021.

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