Post-Mortem is the debut novel in Patricia D. Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series. Having read many of the later books, it was fun to go back to the beginning and see how it all began.

So here we are, first meeting Virginia medical examiner Kay Scarpetta. Brilliant, hard-working, and dedicated to the profession, Kay works alongside the police to help solve murder mysteries. In this case, there's a serial rapist/killer on the loose. Seeming to pick his victims at random, he tortures the women in their own beds, and leaves them dead. With barely a clue to go on, Kay is determined to use whatever forensic details she can to profile this man, and figure out who he is.

But this is going to be an uphill battle for Kay. Because it appears that some unknown antagonist is doing all he or she can to undermine Kay's efforts. From sabotaging her computer, to planting false evidence, and leaking confidential information to the press, this unknown person is either trying to help the murderer, or perhaps just trying to hurt Kay. Or, maybe this person is the murderer! In any case, Kay's got her hands full and more women are dying.

Of course debut novels tend to have characters that aren't quite as developed as they will become later in the series. For instance, in this book, Kay is portrayed as a woman in a "man's world". Constantly fighting sexism to prove she's worthy of the job. In later books, I don't recall this being an issue. Her partner, Marino, does a lot of growing in the other novels, but in this first one, he is gruff, stubborn, and frankly, completely unlikable. This is also the novel where we get to meet Kay's niece, Lucy. 10 years old, supposedly brilliant and an expert in computers, she's a petulant little brat.

The murders, themselves, are gruesome and definitely held my attention. This is one nasty serial killer for sure. But this character is not developed at all. In fact, we learn next to nothing about him. I prefer books where we get to know the bad guys. Even if it doesn't make us like them, I at least want to be able to understand them, at least a little tiny bit. In this case, where we know nothing about him, we'll never know why he was the way he was. What drove him to such extreme measures? We have no idea. We just have to accept that he's evil.

Finally, I do have to say that this book's ending is weak. I won't give anything away, but this ending could have used a little help. Let me just assure you that the books (and in particular the endings) definitely get better as the series progresses. Good thing!

As a stand alone book, this one is just "ok". As the debut to the series that I know gets much better, I'd recommend reading it. Especially if you can get a hold of the entire series and can read them in order.



Body Of Evidence

Cause of Death

Point Of Origin

Port Mortuary

The Front

Trace

Recommended: Yes