PATRICIA CORNWELL – All That Remains. Kay Scarpetta #3. Scribner’s, hardcover, 1992. Avon, paperback, 1993.

   Cornwell is one of the lucky ones who have caught the public’s attention, and is selling a ton of books. Doesn’t hurt, I imagine, that she’s into serial killers. At least it’s clear from the start that that’s what this one is about, which wasn’t the case in one of her earlier books.

   Over the past two years four young couples have disappeared within a fifty-mile radius of Williamsburg, Virginia, not being found until months after they were reported missing. All were found deep in the woods, decomposed, and without shoes and socks. The latest couple to disappear included the daughter of the national drug czar, and immense pressure comes to bear on the Richmond police, federal agents, and our hapless Kay Scarpetta.

   Kay, Virginia’s Chief Medical Examiner, has been unable to determine causes of death. It becomes apparent that the FBI has been withholding evidence from the various jurisdiction, and this, coupled with a reporter’s probing of the case, leads Kay into unexpected and dangerous paths.

   Cornwell knows how to write a page-turner. As an ex-reporter and computer analyst in a medical examiner’s office, she brings an expertise to her stories that enhances them considerably. I found Scarpetta herself to be more appealing than in the first two books, though I still couldn’t really warm to `her. Given that a serial killer is insane by definition, fair-play detection doesn’t enter into the picture; even so, the ending seemed to come a little out of left field to me.

   All told, I liked and recommend the book. I don’t think I liked it as much as many others seem to, though.

Bibliographic Update: There are now 24 books in the Kay Scarpetta series, the most recent being Chaos (2016).