Customer Reviews

Second Scarpetta Omnibus: Cruel and Unusual / the Body ...

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It's fitting that these three Kay Scarpetta novels are part of an omnibus, since they form a loose trilogy revolving around serial killer Temple Gault. Introduced in 'Cruel And Unusual', Gault lurks in the background of 'The Body Farm' and is a key player in 'From Potters Field'. While not stricly necessary, it makes sense to read these three books chronologically to see the Gault storyline develop, so this omnibus is useful if only to force you to read these stories in the right order.

My reviews of all three books are available individually on Amazon, so I won't rehash everything here, and to be honest it's probably best to go into all three novels without knowing much about Gault or how he ties in with the crimes on display. But suffice to say these are three of the better Scarpetta novels. 'Cruel And Unusual' loses its way a bit toward the end, but 'The Body Farm' and 'From Potters Field' are well crafted books. The forensic science is front and centre, especially in the first two, and the plotting is pretty strong (apart from 'Cruel And Unusual' losing focus in the second half). What a constrast to the bloated, directionless messes that Patricia Cornwell has recently served up!

These three books also mark the point where the Scarpetta series, and the characters in it, really matures. We witness Lucy growing up from a precocious child to an awkward adolescent and a driven young woman, and a personal relationship from 'The Body Farm' forms a major sub-plot that runs through the latter two novels. We also see the growing attraction between heroine Kay Scarpetta and FBI consultant Benton Wesley, which again forms a significant thread throughout the entire series. Marino, too, develops as a character; his promotion does nothing to ease his hatred of the police top brass, and he begins to open up and discuss his personal feelings with Kay.

It's best to read the Scarpetta series in order, so you should get either the First Scarpetta Omnibus or the individual novels before tackling this. But this is an excellent compilation that collects three inter-connected novels from the long-running series, all of which offer up some intruiging forensic-based plots and important character development.

Four stars.