Mystery Annotation

Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell; Series: Kay Scarpetta Mysteries Book 1

A serial killer is brutally killing women in Richmond, Virginia. The only thing the victims have in common is a glittery substance left on the bodies by the killer. Medical examiner, Kay Scarpetta, works none stop to determine the source of the glittery substance in hope of catching the killer. Meanwhile a computer hack into Kay's computer leaves other's questioning Kay's credibility. The computer hack may be the source of the leaks to the press that may cost her, her job. Another murder makes matters worse as the suspect may be someone Kay knows. Running out of options, Kay provokes the killer to take action with the help of the notorious news reporter connected to the leaks. Can Kay identify the killer before he decides she is his next victim.

Characteristics of Mysteries

• The books starts out with the murder of Lori Peterson, which drives the story and the characters. Medical Examiner, Kay sorts through the clues, the glittery substance and the odor left by the killer. In the end the clues lead to the killer who is caught.
• The story focuses on Kay, the medical examiner and secondary character Detective Marino.
• The frame is set to go into the details of the job of a medical examiner. We discover how she does her job.
• The mood is dark, there is the impending suspense of if the killer will strike again and will Kay lose her job because of the leaks to the press.
• The pacing was slower in the beginning as the details about how Kay does her job and setting up the clues. Then the resolution happened quickly in less than 25 pages. 

Read-a-likes

Final Jeopardy by Linda Fairstein
Dangerous Attachments by Sarah Lovett
Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass
One Grave Too Many by Beverly Connor