From Library Journal
Cornwell (Point of Origin) leaves the recently morose and introspective Kay Scarpetta mysteries for her alternative series featuring the trio of Police Chief Judy Hammer, Deputy Chief Virginia West, and rookie Andy Brazil. They've moved to Richmond to reorganize that city's police force, stumbling into a series of miscommunications and computer glitches that threaten their attempts to increase police efficiency. Southern Cross is a looser, funnier, more satirical novel where Cornwell allows the minor characters to upstage the plot, even the family pets in the flavor of Rita Mae Brown's Mrs. Murphy series. The reader knows far more than the lead characters, but that is part of the fun as this is a more successfully realized novel than Hornet's Nest. Reader Cristine McMurdo-Wallis carries the story well, but the packaging is not library quality at all. Nonetheless, this is recommended, especially for those who've appreciated Cornwell in the past but have grown weary of her Scarpetta books.AJoyce Kessel, Villa Maria Coll., Buffalo, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From AudioFile
Is this a true crime or a novel? Cristine McMurdo-Wallis's per-formance doesn't give you any clues but allows the text to provide the answer. Richmond Police Chief Judy Hammer and her two assistants attempt to track down computer hackers, end gang violence and solve a racially motivated homicide. Cornwell's text links them all, in unexpected and often funny twists. McMurdo-Wallis's journalistic reading of this police drama sounds more like a radio news magazine than an entertaining story. But it works, in much the way the old "Dragnet" television series used toÐ"just the facts, Ma'am, just the facts." Her one all-out characterization of an immigrant socialite brings exactly the right spice to the mix. R.P.L. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
