#28 in the Scarpetta series, this time Kay is tasked with figuring out what has happened to her former lover/colleague, Sal Giordano. His body was left in an abandoned theme park, with strange crop circles around him and a red tint to his skin. There also seems to have been a UFO in the vicinity of the area when Sal was killed. And oddly, Sal has left Scarpetta with a clue to what he was up to before his death.
We also get (maybe?) a conclusion to a villain that Scarpetta has been dealing with for way too long. It will be a sad day in the Commonwealth if this ME ever decides to retire. Or if Cornwell retires Scarpetta.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this e-arc.*

Good mystery

This book finds Kay trying to solve the murder of a former lover and current good friend Sal. Sal may have been killed by something extraterrestrial, or at least that's what the evidence is pointing to. As always, there is a secondary plot line that ties somewhat indirectly to the main plot, this one involves the death of a young child, perhaps by accident, perhaps not.

Kay has Benton, Lucy and Tron by her side as she works to unravel the mystery of Sal's and the child. There is talk of UFO's/UAP's, previous enemies of Kay and family, and some far out theories, but I found it to be a fast, enjoyable read. I especially loved reading about the NASA and USAF facilities in Hampton, and the Army facilities in Hampton and Newport News. I used to live in those areas so it was a mini-homecoming for me.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

Kay Scarpetta is back along with her family and team. Interesting story involving the question of extraterrestrials. Satisfying resolution.

The Kay Scarpetta series has been a fixture in my reading since I discovered them about a decade ago. This is the 28th mystery and I love how her characters have grown over time. As the chief medical examiner in Virginia the story begins while Kay is performing an autopsy on a child of a wealthy and powerful couple. Barely finishing with that she is called away by the secret service to retrieve a body from an abandoned and creepy amusement park. She is disheartened to learn it is a long time friend and old love of hers. Her niece Lucy who works with the secret service is there as are regulars like Pete Marino and her husband Benton.

In this book the story is more on Kay and it takes place over a few days. I enjoyed her reminiscing about her old love and their summer in Rome. There is focus on the forensic work and I liked small things like the reality of Kay envying Lucy and her partner’s younger and tighter physics while retrieving another body. Cornwell does identify and catch up readers on the regulars in the book so you can read this as a stand alone. But the real enjoyment comes from following them in their lives as the series progresses.

The conclusion comes fast and I think there is good closure on the current cases in the book. This will delight Scarpetta fans. I’ve missed a few books in the series and will need to seek them out when my TBR pile is smaller. And I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

Another wonderful Scarpetta book. I've loved the Kay Scarpetta books for decades. This book is just as well written and exciting as the others. All of our favorite characters are in this book, too.

A man that Kay was involved with (well before her husband), has just been found dead and his body appears to have been dropped from the sky. Additionally, there are some abnormalities that Kay just can't ignore.

Kay is also working on the autopsy for a girl who appears to have been abused. She is almost ready to declare the death a homicide but she needs a bit more time. Meanwhile, the "important people" who parented the child are demanding the return of her body.

There is a bit of unusual evidence on the girl's body that also is showing up on the man's. Kay and her team get pulled into more interesting cases, that seem interrelated, as well.

I had both an e-book and the audio version. Great story, great narration.

It's been a while since I read a book in a single day - and alas, this isn't one of them. That's not because of lack of wanting to, though, nor trying my darndest to put off doing things that needed done so I could polish it off. I came close, but that doesn't count except when I'm playing horseshoes. What I CAN do is say this is one of the best in the series so far - and I don't think I've missed one yet (this is the 28th).

The story begins in Virginia, where forensic pathologist Dr. Kay Scarpetta is examining the body of a young girl whose uber-wealthy parents claim she accidentally shot herself. The parents are demanding the body back, which Scarpetta refuses to approve until she can determine the cause of death. But then, she gets a call to come to a remote location where another body has been found - apparently dropped through the air by some kind of unidentified flying object, according to Scarpetta's Secret Service niece, Lucy.

Say what? If Lucy, an accomplished helicopter pilot, can't figure out what dropped the body, who can? To make already complicated matters more so, the body belongs to astrophysicist Sal Giordano, knicknamed the "E.T. Whisperer" because of his belief in life beyond Earth - with whom Scarpetta just happens to have had a love affairs years ago, before she met and married her FBI profiler husband, Benton Wesley. Since then, she and Sal have stayed in touch but not romantically, most recently on his 60th birthday, the day before he took a downturn for the worse.

Clues as to his death are almost nonexistent, and those that are present are unexplainable - like finding his locked car dumped over a ravine and strange colors and substances found on his mangled body. Also strangely, his body was found in an abandoned theme park owned by - wait for it - the parents of that little girl who supposedly shot herself. Coincidence? I certainly thought not.

As the very secretive investigation by the Secret Service, FBI and other powers-that-be gets under way, something even more sinister is revealed; a possible connection with a villainous character who's haunted Scarpetta and Lucy for years while eluding, and/or escaping, the arms of justice. That in itself adds a whole new dimension to the entire investigation as well as threatens the lives of Scarpetta and everyone she loves.

The book works as a standalone, but for sure those who have read at least a couple of prior books will "get it" more easily (as is the case with almost any series, IMHO). I'm ready for the next one, but meantime I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy of this one. It's a gem!

4 ⭐️ This is a fast paced thriller in the Kay Scarpetta series. Kept me interested and on the edge of my seat!

Kay’s former lover Sal is brutally murdered at the same time a young girl Luna, daughter of wealthy local business owners, is found shot to death.
Leading the investigation along with her husband Benton, partner Marino, and niece Lucy, they race to catch the killer Carrie Grethon.

I enjoyed this stand alone in the series and am excited to read some more of the previous books! I believe some of the relationships would make more sense if the others in the series are read first.

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Another dynamic, frightening, suspenseful Scarpetta saga! Identity Unknown runs several parallel stories that intersect as they build to the expected conclusion. More of Benton and Lucy are featured in this book as Scarpetta’s previous lover is killed. Marino is also prominent, often obnoxiously with his ongoing complaints and jealousy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I actually gave this 4.5 stars, but bumped to 5 to post here

This is book 28 in the Kay Scarpetta series

I have read this series from the beginning, and this is a great book in the series.

TW: Child Death. I will not be covering this in my review, but this is a key factor in this book

We take a trip to OZ in this book, with Marino & Kay flying in with Lucy & Tron on a suspicious death of an old lover of Kay’s (and Marino is not happy)

We see a lot of the jealousy Marino has for any man associated with Kay here, and it’s affecting his relationship with his own wife (ya know, Kay’s SISTER)

Our old friend Carrie pays us a visit as well in this book. Yeah. She’s back. Again. Like the proverbial bad penny.

Lots of twists and turns and moving parts in this book, and I see more adventures for Kay. I just want less Marino jealousy.

This was a good one.

I will say that the plot was extremely complex – and I didn’t exactly love the reasons behind everything - but it was very readable all the same.

Part of this one is extremely sad. The primary death is a heartbreaker and I found myself very engaged in the why and how of everything.

Definitely suitable as a standalone for those new to the series, but also simply a good one for faithful readers.

Enjoyed this one!

*ARC via Publisher

A child’s body. A past lover-turned friend. An old nemesis who pops up every now and then. Could they all be related?
It’s been a while since I read a Patricia Cornwell mystery – not since number 24 of her Kay Scarpetta series, Chaos.
But something about the blurb for the 28th book, Identity Unknown, piqued my interest.

First, the child. The book begins with Luna Briley’s autopsy. She was a very young girl whose billionaire parents claim that she got her hands on a gun and accidentally shot herself. Dr. Scarpetta and an inexperienced assistant examined the scene and have already formed their own impressions of what happened to the child. They know a good deal about the parents, and law enforcement will be investigating that further.

Secondly, her friend, Nobel laureate Sal Giordano is found dead the morning after his 60th birthday. Coincidentally, Kay had stopped by to drop off a gift basket as he was leaving his home for a trip. It was the last time she would ever speak to him. The news is delivered by her niece Lucy Farinelli, who will be picking her up, along with her pal/brother-in-law, Pete Marino. Oh, yes, I missed that by skipping a few books. He is now married to her sister, but it’s obvious that he still carries a torch for Kay. Pete is terrified of flying in a helicopter, especially in stormy weather. Despite having Lucy at the helm, he’s a nervous wreck, and he doesn’t care who knows it. Fortunately, Pete is not at the center of this story.

The scene is like something out of a sick fantasy or Space Odessey 2024, I suppose. It feeds right into Marino’s sci-fi imagination because the original reports were that Sal – if indeed it proves to be Giordano’s body – was dropped from an unknown flying object and landed in an old, inoperable amusement park. This raises some eyebrows because of the location, among other things. Secrecy is of great import during and after the entire event. This is difficult, given the fact that Dorothy, Pete’s wife, will be pestering him mercilessly for details. And of course, the press will be all over it as well.

Before Kay carries on with the autopsy, she’s queried about her relationship with Sal, which proves difficult her, for Marino, and for her husband Benton, who is also present. After the autopsy, Scarpetta contacts Sal’s daughter in Italy, and she and Benton go to a hotel for the night. You’d think that’s the end, right?

When another death occurs, Benton, Lucy, and Kay are all saying the quiet part out loud. That is, they are discussing the person whom they suspect is behind the killings.

The alien theme was a curiosity with all the high-level security, and it did add drama, so if you believe in that sort of thing, it’s suspenseful. Or it could seem over the top. Ms. Cornwell did a good job connecting the dots between the cases; although, we keep seeing the same old characters coming back time and again. I was surprised that I was engaged throughout much of the book, however.

I received a digital copy of Identity Unknown in return for my honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins, and Patricia Cornwell.

3 stars

A body with strange red skin is dropped by, well, possibly a UFO, into an abandoned Wizard of Oz theme park and is surrounded by a crop circle of apple blossoms. The park is owned by a scumbag billionaire currently suspected of just killing his seven year old malnourished daughter (and, scummy, indeed, claiming the little girl shot herself). Just this storyline alone will entice readers to the 28th installment of Patricia Cornwell’s forensic investigator Kay Scarpetta series. Dr. Scarpetta’s involvement comes with being a close friend of the victim and being in charge of the daughter’s autopsy. And, as usual, how everything is tied together will be thrilling, twisty, often unbelievable and action-packed.

Cornwell’s Scarpetta is still an incredible main character deserving of the accolades the previous 27 books have garnered. Cornwell always amazes me with her up-to-date grasp of various technologies (not only forensics, but subjects like avionics and the NSA) and this keeps the series continually interesting and fresh. Even when there are unidentified flying things. Marino, Benton, Lucy, and even her sister Dorothy are back in this thriller, as they were in the very first book “Postmortem” in 1990. But, no worries, the author always includes enough backstory so if you’ve skipped a few books or are just discovering Kay Scarpetta, you won’t feel lost. As usual, the story exceeded my expectations. I was especially mesmerized by Cornwell’s ongoing vivid description of the landmarks below during a lengthy helicopter ride — I almost wanted to repeat the journey using Google Earth. 5 stars! Still a great series!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO A few crazy and glassy eyes, but no green ones.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO You know it’s spring in DC and Virginia thanks to all the cherry and apple blossoms (even those making up a crop circle).

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

I will preface my review by saying I love Patricia Corwell & Kay Scarpetta; both will always be special since it was one of my first mystery/thriller series I ever read. I was so excited to get to read the newest Scarpetta novel and I read some great reviews. I’m sad to say it fell short. The biggest issue was the UFO angle. It just didn’t work for me and I couldn’t get past it.

What a great book! I read this book in one sitting. The action and uncertainty made the story’s tension intense. There are so many connections, and the author seamlessly manages each one. Scarpetta and her colleagues are back on the job of solving two mysteries. And we find out some new backstory on her too. This is a must read.

I almost think of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series as an unusual form of vampire—in that it will probably live beyond my lifetime and hers, reliably delivering doses of fear. Cornwell specializes in difficult characters with great tensions among them (to say the least). Identity Unknown, the latest volume, offers an engaging read with just the right amount of the unexpected. A body dropped from a UFO in an abandoned amusement park? Cornwell nails it and pulls the reader right in.

This volume is full of the uncertainties and threats that Cornwell specializes in. A significant swath of the US government plays parts here and among them and Scarpetta and her allies lie endless barriers of obfuscation and omission. All information comes on a need-to-know basis—and Scarpetta regularly is not included in the need-to-know list, which she accepts, but which makes her job even more difficult.

This title, not surprisingly as it's the 28th volume in the series, assumes readers are familiar with the characters and their pasts. On the one hand, this makes it a title that might not be a good introduction to the series. On the other hand, Cornwell does offer a fair bit of un-clunky background information, so a first-time Scarpetta reader who can handle being out of the need-to-know loop would probably find it an enjoyable challenge.

As usual, I find myself deeply thankful for this difficult group of characters, the walls they've build between one another, and the just-on-the-edge-of -believeability plot lines they deal with. I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for a pre-release of Identity Unknown. I’m a huge fan of the Patricia Cromwell series. Her newest novel will keep you on the edge of your seat. Is Carrie back? Do aliens exist? How did moon dust show up at multiple crime scenes? Patricia weaves together a spider web of mysteries until the very last page.

I adore Kay Scarpetta and her posse. Identity Unknown did not disappoint!

How do a famous family, murdered child, and abandoned theme park connect? Somehow...they just do. This one kept me riveted- watching the connections made as the mystery unravels. I just can't get enough!

Cornwell delivers another gripping installment in the Scarpetta series! Loved all the little hints at the ending. I can’t wait to see what’s next!

I've read all the previous Scarpetta books- if one hasn't I definitely wouldn't recommend this one. You'd want to start with the early books for sure. That being said, I enjoyed it as a long time reader. This marked a bit of a return to form in my opinion compared to the last 4-5 books. Those have all been extremely slow moving, with pages and pages devoted to real minutiae. This one suffered from that a bit but much much less than the last few.
In this one, an old lover of Kay's is murdered. One of the major tropes of the Scarpetta series is that everyone is seemingly obsessed with her in one way or another- in love with her, or hates her and is plotting her downfall, however this book actually didn't go too heavy with that in comparison to many. There's some focus on Marino's unrequited love which I thought we were going to let rest at this point, but it's not too overwhelming. There's a good bit of Benton and some Lucy in this one as well.
The plot isn't too action packed but it moves along. The end is fairly anti-climactic though. All in all an enjoyable read for fans of the series.

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Dr. Kay Scarpetta's services are always in demand, and this time two cases command her investigative talents. Kay, Marino, Benton and Lucy work to solve the horrific murder of a past lover of Kay's, Dr. Sal Giordano. While uncovering the truth of Sal's murder and the mystery of his work, they find themselves hunting for a deranged person from their past and at least one from their present. The urgency to uncover the truth is heightened by the evil that mankind can accomplish with relative ease.

The action and suspense made this book hard to put down as Kay and Marino investigate practically up to the last page. This is a fine addition to one of the best crime/mystery series written.

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing, Patricia Cornwell and NetGalley for this ARC.