Unnatural Exposure

• Author: Patricia Cornwell
• Genre: Mystery/Thriller
• Publication Date: November 2, 2002
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Series: Kay Scarpetta #8

Virginia Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta has a bloody puzzle on her hands: five headless, limbless cadavers in Ireland, plus four similar victims in a landfill back home. Is a serial butcher loose in Virginia? That’s what the panicked public thinks, thanks to a local TV reporter who got the leaked news from her boyfriend, Scarpetta’s vile rival, Investigator Percy Ring. But the butchered bodies are so many red herrings intended to throw idiots like Ring off the track. Instead of a run-of-the-mill serial killer, we’re dealing with a shadowy figure who has plans involving mutant smallpox, mass murder, and messing with Scarpetta’s mind by e-mailing her gory photos of the murder scenes, along with cryptic AOL chat-room messages. The coolest innovation: Scarpetta’s gorgeous genius niece, Lucy, equips her with a DataGlove and a VPL Eyephone, and she takes a creepy virtual tour of the e-mailed crime scene.

It’s been a while since I read a Kay Scarpetta novel, but I had some free time in my audiobook listening schedule, so this was the perfect time to dive back in to the series. I didn’t do a reread of the previous books beforehand, because this isn’t the kind of series where I have to notice every single thing or I’ll miss out on something major. So I remembered the main points of the series, and felt ready to get back into the world of Dr. Scarpetta.

I’m a huge fan of Dr. Scarpetta, and seeing her approach this mystery with her typical methodical approach made me feel like not much had changed. But when she’s potentially exposed to a highly contagious and fatal pathogen, everything does change. Scarpetta in quarantine when there’s a huge case on her plate isn’t exactly a pretty picture; she’s kind of got a need for control at the best of times, and now she doesn’t exactly have any control over much at all. Luckily, Lucy comes in handy with some new technology that allows Kay to examine the crime scene virtually. 

In addition to the tension of the mystery itself, and wondering if Kay is actually sick or not, there’s plenty of additional friction thanks to a new villain who works in law enforcement: Investigator Percy Ring, who keeps leaking information to his television reporter girlfriend. However, Ring isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed and doesn’t bother to verify his information in any way, so he keeps providing the wrong info. On top of all of that, Ring is threatening to out Lucy (keep in mind this was written when LGBTQ people didn’t have the same protections they do now), and someone is emailing gory crime scene photos to Scarpetta. 

The action was fast and furious throughout the story, and CJ Critt did a wonderful job narrating Scarpetta. Her brusque, informative style really echoes the kind of language that is seen among law enforcement and medical professionals. I was so hooked into the story from the beginning until the end, although there was a lot going on in the middle of the book. There were so many red herrings and little side plots that it was very difficult to figure out who was behind the crime and the emails, and I loved watching Scarpetta and Marino work together to go through their process.

Overall, this wasn’t my favorite of the Kay Scarpetta series, but it was still a great book and I really enjoyed it. It was consistently paced, packed full of characters that started out well-rounded in book 1 and have only grown more realistic with each book since, and so much action that you won’t know which thread to follow up on first. I’ve only grown to love this series and its characters more over time, and I can’t wait to see what else is in store for Kay and company in the future! This might be a good fit for you if you like police procedurals, mysteries with great characters, long series, and mysteries with plenty of medical elements in them.

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