Book Review: The Bone Bed

I have read every single book in Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series. The Bone Bed is book #20, yes #20. Other than James Patterson’s Alex Cross series and of course, The Black Dagger Brotherhood (which is only up to book 12), I’ve never been so devoted. Although, to be fair–I tried very hard to stay engaged with the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, but at book 17–which I couldn’t finish–I gave up. The characters in her books never evolve; the story lines are identical, sadly–they just stopped being fun. But, I digress…

The Kay Scarpetta series is, without a doubt, my favorite series of all time. I’ve been in love with the fictional Benton Wesley since ummm…forever, and Lucy is just cool. So, I’m giddy with anticipation with each new release. (And I’d like to point out that I was a total geek and very excited when my favorite tv show–Criminal Minds (and it’s not my favorite just because of Shemar Moore, though seriously, if that were the only reason, who would blame me???)–had Patricia Cornwell in an episode last season promoting her latest Scarpetta book, Red Mist.) Which brings me to now…

The Bone Bed. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it. I didn’t hate it. I didn’t love it. The first thing that comes to mind is the level of detail regarding the technicalities of forensic pathology she went into. Yes, Scarpetta is a forensic pathologist (among other speciliaties…lawyer…) but the acronyms, chemicals, devices…I don’t know what they are, and quite frankly, I don’t care. I get that the character is really smart and we need to have a thorough understanding of what’s being done to understand the killer, but…enough is enough. (And mind you, I’m also a fan of the Rizzoli and Isles series–NOT the tv show, the actual books.)

As usual, I loved Benton in this book. Marino was essentially absent and Lucy was sort of around. The ending was somewhat abrupt, but I have to say Cornwell was clever in how she tied everything together and I never once suspected who the killer was. My personal opinion: spend more time with the characters we’ve grown to love, having them interact and fleshing out where they are in their lives, and less time on describing the latest and greatest in forensic gadgets and government acronyms.

If you’re a fan of this series, definitely read the book. It’s not disappointing–but you probably won’t love it. If you’ve never read the Scarpetta series, this should not be the first one you read–start at the beginning; definitely worth it.