Review of Chaos (Kay Scarpetta #24) by Patricia Cornwell

Chaos (Kay Scarpetta #24)

by Patricia Cornwell

"On a hot late summer evening in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Dr. Kay Scarpetta and her investigative partner Pete Marino respond to a call about a dead bicyclist near the Kennedy School of Government. It appears that a young woman has been attacked with almost super human force.
Even before Scarpetta’s headquarters, the Cambridge Forensic Center, has been officially notified about the case, Marino and Scarpetta’s FBI agent husband Benton Wesley receive suspicious calls, allegedly from someone at Interpol.

But it makes no sense. Why would the elite international police agency know about the case or be interested? With breathtaking speed it becomes apparently that an onslaught of interference and harassment might be the work of an anonymous cyberbully named Tailend Charlie, who has been sending cryptic communications to Scarpetta for over a week.

Stunningly, even her brilliant tech savvy niece Lucy can’t trace whoever it is or how this person could have access to intimate information few outside the family would have.

When a second death hundreds of miles south, shocking Scarpetta to her core, it becomes apparent she and those close her are confronted with something far bigger and more dangerous than they’d ever imagined. Then analysis of a mysterious residue recovered from a wound is identified as a material that doesn’t exist on earth."

4 out of 5*

Before reading Chaos (#24) I had just read The Scarpetta Factor (#17), which I really wasn’t impressed with (and I am usually quite happy with Patricia Cornwell’s books).

This one was much better, much more what I am used to with a Kay Scarpetta novel.  Kay is all about the details and this one delivers on that front.  It’s amazing how much can take place within the relatively short period of time that this story covers.  There is the usual backdrop of her relationships with her family and work colleagues as well as a topical element in the method used in the killings which I liked. 

I have given this one a 4 out of 5 rating because I enjoyed it, and it kept my attention throughout.  A lot of the other reviews I have read have said it’s time to put this series to bed.  I think it still has some life left in it yet.