Depraved Heart - (Kay Scarpetta Mysteries) by Patricia Cornwell (Paperback)

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. The clips launch these characters on an intensely psychological odyssey that includes the mysterious death of a Hollywood mogul's daughter, aircraft wreckage on the bottom of the sea in the Bermuda Triangle, a grisly gift left in the back of a crime scene truck, and videos from the past that threaten to destroy Scarpetta's entire world and everyone she loves. The diabolical presence behind what unfolds seems obvious -- but strangely, not to the FBI. Certainly that's the message they send when they raid Lucy's estate and begin building a case that could send her to prison for the rest of her life.

Book Synopsis

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is working a suspicious death scene in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when she receives a text message with a video link that seems to be from her niece Lucy. But how can it be? It's clearly a surveillance film of Lucy taken years ago.

As Scarpetta watches she comes to grips with frightening secrets. That first clip and others sent soon after raise dangerous implications that isolate Scarpetta, leaving her confused and not knowing whom she can tell--not her FBI agent husband, Benton Wesley, or her investigative partner, Pete Marino. Not even Lucy.

Cornwell launches these characters on a psychological odyssey that includes the bizarre death of a Hollywood mogul's daughter, wreckage on the bottom of the sea in the Bermuda Triangle, a grisly gift left in a crime scene truck, and videos from the past that threaten to destroy Scarpetta's entire world. The diabolical presence and singularly "depraved heart" behind what unfolds seems obvious--but not to the FBI, who begin building a case against Lucy that could send her to prison for the rest of her life. . . .

Review Quotes

"Dr. Kay Scarpetta, who keeps us coming back to Patricia Cornwell's sprawling crime novels, is one tough broad. ... Once Scarpetta decides to ferret out Lucy's secrets, the novel becomes more of a psychological thriller." -- New York Times Book Review

"Scarpetta's current case, Lucy's troubles with the Feds, and Carrie's spooky blast from the past are all on an inevitable collision course, and Cornwell shows surprising restraint in reining in her plot and keeping it tightly focused on her well-developed core characters." -- Publishers Weekly

"Another gritty, world-weary tale of mayhem by masterful mysterian Cornwell. . . . Terse and tangled, messy and body-fluidy, and altogether satisfying." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Dark and cleverly plotted." -- Booklist

"Cornwell's demonic plot shifts and changes almost page by page, so the reader's spun round not knowing what to believe... This intense rush of a mystery will keep you guessing up until the very scary conclusion." -- Providence Journal

"Another gritty, world-weary tale of mayhem by masterful mysterian Cornwell. . . . Terse and tangled, messy and body-fluidy, and altogether satisfying." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Dr. Kay Scarpetta, who keeps us coming back to Patricia Cornwell's sprawling crime novels, is one tough broad. . . . Once Scarpetta decides to ferret out Lucy's secrets, the novel becomes more of a psychological thriller..." -- New York Times Book Review

"Heart-stopping, paranoia-fueled, propulsively readable, viscerally suspenseful, disconcertingly shifty... Cornwell's demonic plot shifts and changes almost page by page, so the reader's spun round not knowing what to believe... This intense rush of a mystery will keep you guessing up until the very scary conclusion." -- Providence Journal