Reviews

Depraved Heart: A Scarpetta Novel by Patricia Cornwell

wadezone's review against another edition

3.0

This is the first book I have read by the author Patricia Cornwell. I was excited to read a book from this author. I have very mix feelings about this book. The author is very detail in describing the scene, but I felt like it was repeated just with different words. I was enjoying the story at first but about half way through I was getting exhausted because the story wasn't going anywhere and it seems like there were lots of assumptions instead of actual facts/proof about the crime(s). The book seem to be written so that it didn't require to read the previous books in the series. It was obvious though that these characters have had past history. I may have to check out one of the first books in the series to see what all of the excitement is about this author.

bibliophilebookclub's review against another edition

4.0

Hi everyone!

I'm thrilled to be the first stop on the blog tour for the new Patricia Cornwell book, Depraved Heart. This is the 23rd (can you believe that?!) instalment of the Scarpetta series. I've been a fan of Cornwell's books for as long as I can remember, and I've read all of this series. Needless to say, I was delighted to be given the opportunity to take part in the blog tour. My thanks to Hayley Camis and Harper Collins for my review copy of Depraved Heart.





About the author:

Patricia Cornwell has sold over 100 million books and had 29 New York Times bestsellers, including Dust, The Bone Bed, Red Mist and Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper- Case Closed. Postmortem is the only novel to win five major crime awards in a single year and Cruel and Unusual won Britain's prestigious Gold Dagger Award for the best crime novel. Fox 2000 have bought the rights to Kay Scarpetta to be developed for the big screen. When not writing from her Boston home, she is tirelessly researching cutting edge forensics to include in her work. Currently researching drone technology as well as continuing her work in ballistics, explosives and firearms, Cornwell has also been learning about advanced trauma for the emergency responder through simulation technology, working with the Special Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T) department, training on the VirFa Firearms Training Simulators as well as Scuba Diving in Bermuda.







About the book:
Dr. Kay Scarpetta is working a suspicious death scene in Cambridge, Massachusetts when an emergency alert sounds on her phone. A video link lands in her text messages and seems to be from her computer genius niece Lucy. But how can it be? It’s clearly a surveillance film of Lucy taken almost twenty years ago.

As Scarpetta watches she begins to learn frightening secrets about her niece, whom she has loved and raised like a daughter. That film clip and then others sent soon after raise dangerous legal implications that increasingly isolate Scarpetta and leave her confused, worried, and not knowing where to turn. She doesn’t know whom she can tell – not her FBI husband Benton Wesley or her investigative partner Pete Marino. Not even Lucy.


My thoughts:

Following on from Flesh and Blood, Depraved Heart picks up two months after the events involving the Copperhead Killer. Dr. Kay Scarpetta is called to a suspicious death in Cambridge. A film mogul's daughter is found dead in her home and Scarpetta and Marino attend the scene.

Within minutes of beginning her exam, Scarpetta receives a message on her phone from her niece Lucy's ICE with a video link. The accompanying footage makes her question those around her and who to trust.

Simultaneously, Lucy's home is being raided by the FBI. With worry setting in, Scarpetta rushes through her examination of the scene in order to go over to Lucy's house, not knowing about the raid.

This book essentially takes place over the course of one day. It is full of forensic detail, the kind you usually expect from Cornwell. At times, it's difficult to take in all that gets written, but it's good to know the reasoning behind the forensic processes.

I really enjoyed Depraved Heart. More so than Flesh and Blood. It's full of psychological warfare as the characters don't know who to trust, and an old nemesis resurfaces, testing everyone. There are some unexpected twists and turns along the way which make for interesting asides.

My only issue with Depraved Heart was that once you get to the climax of the story, it ends very quickly. I would have liked a little more explanation of certain events, but that's personal preference.

I gave Depraved Heart 4⭐️ on Goodreads. It was a highly enjoyable story and I'm very grateful to Harper Collins for my copy!

Happy Reading

marijnleest's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

dawnlaw's review

2.0

I was so looking forward to reading this as I am a big fan of the Scarpetta series. I found this boring, I really struggled to get through it and actually finish the book. Big disappointment.

dag3s's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

lilabnersgal's review

4.0

The ending left me wondering what happened and hoping it would be answered in the next book. Also glad I didn't have to wait for the next book to be written.

joni7824's review

4.0

I have been reading the Kay Scarpetta novels since I received Body Of Evidence from a friend. I was instantly hooked. Depraved Heart was a fast paced, intriguing psychological thriller which I loved. However, there were discrepancies between this book and the previous books in the series which disappointed me quite a bit. I've come to expect a lot from Cornwell and the Scarpetta series and am disappointed with these discrepancies, plot holes and unanswered questions

kle105's review

3.0

This was a weird one for me as I do love this series but it was very confusing. I had a hard time getting into it. This also seemed like a continuation of the previous book and again was unresolved. The relationship between Kay and Benton in this one was really weird and I just didn't get the subterfuge of it all, and how that is acceptable.

I still love the writing of this series and will continue reading it but hopefully the Carrie situation is put to bed.

mbpartlow's review

4.0

First up, this came out in 2015, and I read it in 2023. So some time has passed.

I've read previous books in this series, but haven't read one in a long time. I suspect this is more for hardcore fans of the series. It seems to be a lot of backstory about what happened in the past.

Also, I had a really hard time believing all of these events happened in the short amount of time they happened in. It just doesn't seem physically possible, and that threw me out of the story a bit.

If you're a fan of the series, you'll probably love this book. Coming back into it, it was a good, taut read, but not enough resolution at the end for my taste.

mezzoir's review

1.0

Enough of Carrie Grethen already !
30% of the e-book was spent rehashing the previous book...Unfortunately very little mystery or actual detection takes place in the this book Just a lot of soliloquy from Kay and far too much whiz bang technology....