Unnatural Death is the 27th book in the Kay Scarpetta series. This is the first book I have read in the series. I don't think this is a stand-alone read. While the main plot is separate there is a lot of back story that is woven in but not enough for me to feel as if I knew what had happened prior.

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is called out to Virginia where the remains of two campers wanted by federal law enforcement were found murder. She goes with Marino and Lucy who flies a helicopter to get them to the scene.

The first third of the book has a lot of bickering between Lucy and Marino with Kay stuck in the middle, and we haven't even gotten to the murder scene. This book is detailed orientated, with lots of new technology regarding AI and malware. Not something I find as interesting in a murder mystery.

I'm disappointed that I didn't find the book as interesting as I hoped it would be. I had been looking forward to reading it.

It’s been a very long time since I’ve read a Kay Scarpetta book…. This took me a little bit to get into and even longer to read. There was a TON of technical stuff that, as the reader, just didn’t need. However, I still loved this character and the story!!

I got this as an ARC from Netgalley!! Thank you for the opportunity to read this!!

Kay Scarpetta has held a place in my heart for a very long time. Needless to say, I was so excited to see there was another book! This book was amazing. It kept me on my toes and left me wanting more!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Scarpetta has been called to a scene where it looks like the two victims have been ripped apart by an animal. The two bodies were a couple who were wanted by the federal government and have been hiding in the wilderness. She must investigate the bodies as well as the scene to figure out just what happened to the victims because she is sure it wasn't a wild animal. Follow along as she follows the clues in hopes of finding a clue to.lead her to some suspects and eventually a killer. Love the series, it just gets better with age. I look forward to the characters next journey.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance ecopy of this book. In this latest installment of the Kay Scarpetta series, Kay is still trying to re-establish herself and her lab in Northern Virginia. Her current case involves 2 bizarre deaths that occurred in an abandoned gold mine. As the plot unfolds, Kay discovers ties to 2 previous cases she recently worked on. In addition, an ugly component of Kay, Lucy, Benton, and Marion's past rears their head.

Latest in the Scarpetta series, my attention was kept throughout. Because I know the series, the relationships of the characters were easy to follow. The story wove together new and past events and flowed nicely.

I have been a Kay Scarpetta fan and Patricia Cornwell fan from the beginning, and this book did not disappoint. I love the continued storyline of all the same characters and how their lives have intertwined.

Patricia Cornwell is the master of description and the queen of plot twists. PC has set the bar high for psychological thrillers and this book was no exception! Kudos to Patricia Cornwell for always staying current and doing quality research for her books- medically, police procedure, forensics, current events, etc. all well researched and written. I have loved following the lives of Dr. Scarpetta, Lucy, Marino and Benton for many years. I grew up along side of Lucy and can't wait to see where these characters go next.

A solid 4⭐️ for me, could have been 5⭐️ but I felt the plot twist could have been more intricate with the incredible set up provided by the author. Thank you @netgalley and @GrandCentralpub for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!

Patricia Cornwell is one of my favorite authors and I try to read as many of her books as I can. This is the 27th book in the Kay Scarpetta series, and it's a good one.

Description:
In this thrilling new installment of Patricia Cornwell’s #1 bestselling Scarpetta series, chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta finds herself in a Northern Virginia wilderness examining the remains of two campers wanted by federal law enforcement.

The victims have been mauled beyond recognition, and other evidence is terrifying and baffling including a larger-than-life footprint.

After the most frightening body retrievals of her career, Scarpetta must discover who would commit murders this savage, and why.

My Thoughts:
The wilderness area where the bodies were found was really creepy. Kay is working with Marino again and he found a footprint on the site that he is convinced was a Sasquatch. What? He's very serious about it. Kay's niece Lucy plays a big part in this one. She's a big help to her Aunt Kay and has so much technical knowledge (as well as her own secrets). There a Russian angle in the plot too. As always with Cornwell's book there is a lot of technical language to wade through, but I like this because I always learn something. The plot kept my interest and there were some interesting twists and turns. I think anyone who likes a good investigation and medical forensics will enjoy the book.

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing through Netgalley for an advance copy.

OMG!! Patricia Cornwell has done it again! This was the perfect continuation of the Kay Scarpetta series. Unnatural Death talks about extremist groups bent on taking down the US democracy, spying by enemies like Russia and China, and the worrisome direction technology is taking in the world today. The story is pertinent to what's happening in the world today. It definitely kept me turning the pages and I remain a staunch Scarpetta fan – bring on #28!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Unnatural Death
By: Patricia Cornwell
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pub Date: 11/28/23

Kay Scarpetta is back for book 27 and Lucy and Bennett are in trouble. A secret they have been keeping for years is putting everyone in danger.
Two bodies have been brutally killed in an off grid forest that nobody really enters. Marino is all excited because he took a foot casting of what he believes to be Bigfoot. But this is a strange one, there's a leak in the office and the media is on fire.
While searching the scene they have found hundreds of thousands of dollars just blowing around. There is cash money everywhere. Benton is working on a case that ties in with the murders. The FBI is dealing with extremist groups, Russia and China that complications the US had in the 2020 election.
Patricia is back to her old self writing style wise. There were a couple in recent years that weren’t as good but this one was perfect! Can’t wait for #28!

Unnatural Death is the 27th installment in the Kay Scarpetta series. If your new to Cornwell’s books don’t be intimidated by the large amount of back reading. Much like popular crime drama’s on tv, there is an over arching character plot, but each book tells a singular cohesive story much like a singular episode. Chief medical examiner Scarpetta is called out to the Virginia wilderness, where a brutal murder has taken the life of a couple. With the Secret Service involved and old enemies returning, you will be hooked from page 1.
Having only glanced at Patricia’s books in the past while my mother was reading them, I picked up Unnatural Death on a whim. It has scratched an itch I didn’t know I had. While I prefer reading over tv crime dramas are the exception. Not knowing what to expect and having an over active imagination, I tend to avoid mysteries and thrillers. I am incredibly glad to have found that I could compare this to something like Bones or CSI instead of horror book. I will definite be exploring both more of this genre and more of Patricia Cornwell’s books.
I received an ARC and am leaving a review of my own volition.

For a while, Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series had gotten offtrack. In the last installment, it felt much stronger, and once again, she packed a powerful punch in her latest release, Unnatural Death. History comes flying forward with a blast from the past torturing our main characters. Toss in the normal dark deathly explorations of autopsies and medical thriller plotlines, and you've got a winner. Love the way Scarpetta's staff is always a bit off their rockers, and the villains find evil ways to kill people. Scary in a "what is the world coming to" way, but also a good way to just revel in something that likely can't really happen, right? That's the best part of these books, as they push the envelope, but reality may be moving in this direction. I think fans will enjoy this one... and I look forward to the next one even more now.

This is another thrilling installment to the Kay Scarpetta series. I absolutely loved it like I have all the others!

Two people are found dead in the woods near abandoned gold mines. They have died under suspicious and violent circumstances. You discover that Lucy and the Secret Service (along with others) have been monitoring this couple. Why were they killed, and why are there no pictures of the suspect on trail cameras? A person from Dr. Scarpetta's past returns, and it is not someone she ever expected or wanted to see again.

I love the relationship between Marino and Kay. They have a wonderful friendship and always have each other's back. The descriptions of the forensics and autopsies fascinate me. The technology described is like something from a James Bond or sci-fi movie. It is so interesting and keeps you glued to the page.

As a side note, in 1993, I was going through a divorce. My life was extremely stressful. That was when I discovered Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series. I think there were two or three books out at the time. I remember sitting on my parents' deck reading. I became so invested in the mystery and the characters that I completely forgot about what was going on in my personal life. Such is the power of an amazing book.

Dr. Kay Scarpetta has been sent into the wilderness to examine the ghastly remains of two campers that have been investigated by the government for quite a while and on niece’s radar even longer. Because the bodies are otherwise inaccessible, Kay and all the government agents are ferried to the location by Lucy in a government helicopter with unheard of technical advances. The CIA is in charge, and when Kay and Marino finally find out why, they are completely shocked. This tale had all the forensic details that make Cornwell's novels so interesting. I have been disappointed by a few of the more recent novels. However, the author is back in form and has written another compelling thriller. The story is full of technical details that can scare you if you think about the reality of what is out there and could get into the wrong hands. I do wish that there had been more exploration of Kaye's feelings about the secret revealed. As I was reading, it didn’t seem like the story was going to wrap up before the end of the book. I thought that this book was going to be a cliffhanger and I would have to wait a year for the end of the story. But the last 50 pages were so intense that I stayed up late so that I could finish the book. The end was great, but I think that Scarpetta used her ingenious, improvised defense in an earlier book. This book is a great read. Cornwell is one of my must-read authors, which is why I was so happy to read an advanced review copy through NetGalley. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to thriller aficionados.

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fascinating, suspenseful and kept me reading. I enjoyed this book and this author is a "must read" for me.

I think the most disturbing thing about Patricia Cornwell’s newest Scarpetta novel, Unnatural Death, might be how timely the storyline feels, how I wouldn’t be shocked to see some of this actually happening. Even the entertaining though not entirely necessary Bigfoot subplot. (Yeah, you read that right, lol.) Intense, well paced, complex story. This is classic Cornwell. 4.5 out of 5 stars. I’d like to thank Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Unnatural Death.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1U7A9IZWC0VZV/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Although this is the 27th book of the series, it can be considered a stand-alone. If you love a strong willed, intelligent heroine…you will love Kay Scarpetta. Also, this is a great crime thriller genre book. I like this series a lot. The author has been writing for 30 + years so she knows exactly how to capture her reader. For me, I love the little twist of the myth for me. I won’t reveal much more than that because I don’t want to ruin it for anyone. I follow P. Cornwell on Instagram and she told the story of how she came up with this novel. She has a great imagination.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to give an honest review on this book

Unnatural Death is the 27th book in the Kay Scarpetta series from Patricia Cornwell. She has been writing this character for 30+ years.

"Scarpetta is called to the scene of a possible double murder - a remote campsite near an abandoned mine system. The killer did not show up on the vitims' trail cameras. And Marino found an odd footprint. What happened out there?"

Some odd things about this story. Scarpetta is on the way to the crime from the first page. It takes 100 pages before they're headed back. This seems more about the people and what's going on with them than solving a crime. There are a lot of plot jumps - big changes in direction - suddenly. Why the Bigfoot storyline?
There were several seemingly unconnected events that were tied together in the last 30-40 pages. It seemed rushed.
I have not read this series for several books and it felt like I was missing part of the story.

Hardcore Scarpetta fans should like this

Book #27 in the Kay Scarpetta series and another easy 5 star read for me. Patricia Cornwell started the forensic science trend in books and movies when she introduced us to Kay Scarpetta. She has maintained the quality of her writing and the investment we have in these hard working characters. In Unnatural Death, Cornwell introduces her readers to the spy contingent that she's managed to avoid until now. Scarpetta is called to a crime scene only to find the victims were under suspicion of spying by the FBI and could have been killed by Bigfoot!!! As the investigation moves forward, Scarpetta's supporting cast of characters will bring the spy world closer to home and place the targets squarely on their own backs. As always, this story flew far too quickly and now I must wait for #28. Let's hope Marino finds Bigfoot before then.