Book of the Dead - Patricia Cornwell

It has just taken me over 3 weeks to read this book, which is so unusual. The majority of the Scarpetta series I have read in a day or two, the one previous to this took a little longer at about a week. But this book was so awful I struggled to even get to the end.

It is such a shame because Patricia Cornwell has the ability to be such an excellent writer, but she has really let herself down badly with Book of the Dead, I haven't read a synopsis of the latest book Scarpetta, but I hope Patricia puts the series to rest in it, because judging by this one she's taken it a step too far.

Its hard to say why this book was so bad without giving too much away about the storyline (or lack thereof!), so beware if you are an absolute spoiler hater you'll probably want to stop reading here.

According to the synposis the book should be about Scarpetta and her newly opened private forensics lab, and the death of a tennis star, and the death of a young boy. All the things you'd except from a Scarpetta book. However the synopsis doesn't match the actual book itself.
What we actually get is two thirds of a book about Scarpetta's personal life and Benton's treatment of Dr Self in his clinic. Then we have a huge chunk of the book dedicated to Marino, his love life and his problems.
And as an after thought there are odd mentions of the deaths, a teeny bit of forensics thrown in, and finally in the last chapter or so the deaths are all wrapped up in a nice neat package.

But the package isnt that neat, because it leaves you wondering what on earth was all that about? There is nothing to really tell you why the bad guy or gal did what he or she did.

Its not that the Scarpetta series has avoided the personal lives of the characters, its just that they were always secondary to the main plots of the book.

I am so glad that I didnt pay for this book, that I actually just borrowed it from someone else, because if I'd bought it I think I'd be taking it back under the Sale of Goods Act - Not fit for the purpose. Because this book is certainly not a good read, or entertaining by any stretch of the imagination.