Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell…Blog Tour Stop & Review

About Depraved Heart

Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (January 3, 2017)

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is working a highly suspicious death scene in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when an emergency alert sounds on her phone. A video link seems to be from her niece Lucy. But how can it be? It’s clearly a surveillance film of Lucy taken almost twenty years ago.

As Scarpetta watches she comes to grips with frightening secrets about her niece. That first clip and others sent soon after raise dangerous implications that increasingly isolate Scarpetta and leave her confused, alarmed, and not knowing where to turn. The diabolical presence and singularly depraved heart behind what unfolds seems obvious but strangely, not to the FBI. Certainly that’s the message they send when they start harassing Lucy and begin building a case that could send her to prison for the rest of her life.

In the latest novel in her bestselling series featuring medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Cornwell captivates readers again with the jolting twists, high-wire tension, and cutting-edge forensic detail for which she is renowned, proving yet again why she is the world’s number one bestselling crime writer.

My Review:

Depraved Heart is book number 23 in author Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series and admittedly the first in the series I have read.  I’m a huge fan of forensic, psychological, and mystery TV so I figured I would give this series a try.  Well, I wasn’t disappointed.  This book with filled with suspense and I loved it.

Someone is trying to frame Dr. Kay Scarpetta’s niece and it seems to be at the hands of someone they had been dealing with, and fearing, for the last twenty years.  Someone they had counted out but never really forgotten about.  Someone wha was beyond mentally unstable and completely diabolical.  Now, they are all on a mission to figure out just what’s going on, who is sending these bizarre videos from twenty years ago to Dr. Scarpetta’s phone, and how to get out of this alive.

From start to finish I was kept on the edge of my seat.  The pieces of this puzzle are given to the reader on a slow and steady pace which only added to the overall suspense.  There were more than a few times I actually said “wow, this woman is completely psychotic” out loud.  I also enjoyed the heavy forensic details in the book.  At times it was a lot to digest while trying to keep up with what was going on with Lucy but it really did add an authentic layer that I appreciated.  Now, I can’t give anything away as to who ends up being responsible for orchestrating this entire scheme but I will tell you to buckle up for a crazy ride! My mother has been a huge fan of Ms. Cornwell for years and I was really happy I gave this series a try.  I will certainly be reading more!

Thank you, Ms. Cornwell, for one hell of a book!  I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a well written and well thought out psychological thriller.

 Four Loves

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About Patricia Cornwell

Patricia Cornwell is recognized as one of the worldís top bestselling crime authors with novels translated into thirty-six languages in more than 120 countries. Her novels have won numerous prestigious awards including the Edgar, the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger, the Anthony, the Macavity and the Prix du Roman díAventures. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Patricia has written a definitive book about Jack the Ripper, a biography and two more fiction series among others. Cornwell, a licensed helicopter pilot and scuba diver, actively researches the cutting-edge forensic technologies that inform her work. She was born in Miami, grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston.

Find out more about Patricia at her†website, and follow her on†Twitter,†Facebook, and Instagram.