Red Mist

October 20, 2012 - Red Mist (Patricia Cornwell). This 19th novel in the author's Kay Scarpetta series takes the medical examiner to Savannah, Georgia. It also brings about the end of a recurring character.

The narrative picks up a few months after the end of the action in the preceding novel, Port Mortuary. That book ended with Scarpetta narrowly escaping a murder attempt by Dawn Kinkaid, the psychopathic, illegitimate daughter of Scarpetta's long-time assistant, Jack Fielding. Now, Scarpetta is going against the advice of her husband, Benton, and travelling to a women's prison in Georgia. She wants to talk with Kathleen Lawler, Kinkaid's mother and the woman who began a sexual relationship with Fielding when he was just a boy.

It soon becomes apparent to Scarpetta that something's not right. There are mix-ups with her rental vehicle and her hotel room, and she feels like she's being watched. Then, Lawler manages to pass her a mysterious note, which ultimately leads Scarpetta to Jaime Berger, a former prosecutor in New York. Berger has ended her relationship with Scarpetta's niece, Lucy, and has moved to Savannah. Her mission is to prove that a death row inmate named Lola Daggette was wrongly convicted of murdering a prominent doctor and his family several years ago.

Over the course of just a few days, Scarpetta manages to uncover a family secret, solve the notorious murder case once and for all, end corruption at the prison and stop a killer who could have caused worldwide panic. Phew!

As exciting as that previous paragraph may have sounded, the book, overall, turned out to be a disappointment. There's too much talking and not enough action. What action there is primarily consists of Scarpetta talking to various people – the prison warden, the inmate, a fellow medical examiner – and occasionally looking over some evidence. I also felt that after 400+ pages of that, the ending felt rather rushed, answers seemed to come out of nowhere, and some loose ends were never tied up. I'm not ready to quit on the series yet, but I have to wonder how much longer it will go on.