The Bone Bed

*Award-winning author Patricia Cornwell delivers another nail-biting suspense featuring her infamous character Dr. Kay Scarpetta…….A woman has vanished a couple thousand miles away while digging a dinosaur bone bed in the remote wilderness of Canada, and somehow its only evidence has made its way to Boston, and chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta is not only perplexed, but plagued by two disturbing questions. Who sent this so-called evidence to her? And what is it supposed to make her think or do? When Kay retrieves a body in the most brutal way from the Massachusetts Bay, events unfold rather quickly and she begins to suspect that the palentologist\’s disappearance is connected to a series of crimes much closer to home especially since she discovered trace evidence from the dinosaur age. Even worse, when she turns to those she loves most in the world and Kay discovers the suspicion and danger have penetrated her life than she ever thought possible. Between her niece Lucy, her lead investigator Pete Marino and her FBI forensic psychologist husband Benton Wesley, she learns they are all keeping secrets from her,and in her mind, Kay feels the ultimate betrayal. Feeling lonely and on her own, Kay is unknowingly tempted by someone from her past, a cold-blooded killer with deadly intentions of his own determined of ridding her in the most torturous way possible before the night is over once and for all!……

Bought this against my better judgement. Her last couple of books were no where near as good as her early writing. This book continues that sad trend. The opening sections are mind numbingly boring. There is a scene on a boat describing a turtle enmeshed with a corpse. The dialogue simply goes on and on – it is repetitious to the point where I just skimmed it. There same happens throughout the book – unendingly detailed pointless conversations. The author also continuously used the phase \”but I wonder if that is what he really means\” or words similar. In one section that type of phrase is used three times on one page! The connection with the term bone bed is minimal in the story line. I suspect the title was a creation just to make it sound more gory. The scientist could have been killed in the Bronx and it would make no difference to the story. The ending is really unsatisfying. It just sort of ends with the murderer being a character that is not mentioned until the last few pages. This book suffers from an editor who just wants to get another book out. It could/should have been trimmed extensively. The trouble is it would then be a short story.

I\’d rather write a good review than a bad one, and I know this author is popular, but The Bone Bed was not a very good read. During the first hundred pages the book couldn\’t seem to get started, as it focused on too many superfluous descriptions and distracting minutiae. Eventually we got around to the forensic science and the profiling and all of that was very interesting. The book came to a thrilling conclusion but just fizzled out at the end, never exploiting all the groundwork that was laid. I have to call this book a disappointment due to awkward writing.

I\’ve read every Kay Scarpetta book, and agree with my fellow one-starrers that this one is the worst entry in a series that has been steadily declining for a while now. To spare those of you who haven\’t read the book the misery, let me sum up the major plot points: 1. Kay Scarpetta is brilliant. 2. Every man she meets wants to sleep with Kay Scarptetta. 3. Every woman Kay Scarpetta meets (other than her niece) is jealous of Kay Scarpetta and/or wants to sleep with her husband. 4. Kay Scarpetta and her boring (but brilliant and attractive) husband have tedious conversations in which they make veiled comments about their suspicions that the other one is cheating. 5. There\’s a cute cat. 6. There\’s a cute dog. 7. There\’s an endangered turtle for some reason. 8. Oh yeah, there are also some murders, which are miraculously solved out of the blue in the last few pages, with little intrigue or rationale.

I have to agree that although this book regained a little of the earlier magic in the series, it falls short. The plot line was OK, but for goodness sakes, please let there be some character growth! It was just more of the same old same old, just 5 years later. Kay questions what\’s wrong with her and feels insecure, the marriage is still floundering, Benton is off doing his own FBI thing and keeping things from Kay, Marino is still drinking, doing stupid stuff, being angry and belligerent, and Lucy who used to be a dynamic personality is just a gay woman hiding her love relationship behind a smokescreen of computers. Blah! I had hoped for more, because Cornwell is capable of amazing.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member