Chaos – Patricia Cornwell

The Last Word Review

The twenty-fourth thriller starring Dr Kay Scarpetta from the pen of the bestselling Patricia Cornwell has arrived and fans of the million selling author will be delighted with the latest offering Chaos.

I recall reading the very first in the series Postmortem all those years ago that stars the super forensic expert Dr Kay Scarpetta and all these years later book number 24 landed with on my desk. And so it was to a weekend of reading Cornwell’s latest that snared me from page one.

The story is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts it is her home and the place of her work. It is an early autumn and the heat is intense so much so a twenty-six- year old woman Elisa Vandersteel is found dead alongside her bicycle. At first it is believed she was struck by lightning. For Dr Scarpetta she was talking with the very same young woman just a few hours before. And so the investigation begins but there is more to this story that you believe. Scarpetta’s husband has been receiving strange telephone calls that apparently are from Interpol. Dr Kay Scarpetta is being targeted but by who and why? Who is behind this and just wanted happened to the young woman cycling along the river, it was a clear sunny day and lighting could not have struck her, but then again what caused the smell of burning coming from the body?

The story is engrossing and moves quickly along at a pace and the way the characters are drawn into the storyline. This is a crime that needs to be solved and quickly as Scarpetta is being harassed by someone calling himself Tailend Charlie and there are a series of poems that arrive it is time to call for reinforcements and this includes her niece Lucy but this Tailend Charlie is one slippery fish of a character Scarpetta just cannot get close enough to him. Adding to drama Scarpetta’s Dorothy has arrived to hear her give a talk. The two have a frosty relationship. But why has she chosen to come to the lecture of all times now?

Chaos may not be Cornwell’s best of the twenty-four thrillers but it still had me hooked and there are a number of twists to keep you in suspense to the very end.

Put the cat our, lock the doors and switch off your phone pour a large glass of wine settle down with the ultimate crime writer.

Thank you to Hayley Camis at Harper Collins for the advanced review copy.

Chaos by Patricia Cornwell is published by Harper Collins and is available through Waterstones, Amazon and all good bookshops.

CHAOS – The Official Blog Tour 2016