“Black Notice” 
by Patricia Cornwell


Review #166

A Dr. Kay Scarpetta Mystery

Kay Scarpetta's on the case when the body of a stowaway is found in a sealed container on a ship arriving in Richmond, VA. from Belgium. This is just the beginning of a tumultuous adventure!

Evil wears several faces this time, from petty to monstrous. Most insidious is the office sabotage, insubordination, thefts and fraudulent e-mails, that are making the grieving Kay look as if she's lost her grip since the murder of her lover, Benton Wesley. More destructive are the overt attempts by calculating Richmond’s deputy police chief, Diane Bray, to ruin Kay's career as well as that of Kay's old friend, Capt. Pete Marino.

In addition, there's the wild rage that's consuming Kay's niece, Lucy, a DEA agent whose friend and partner has been injured and finally, there are the mutilation killings by the French serial killer and self-styled werewolf, "Loup-Garou".

The forensic sequences are presented with authority; the interplay between Kay and Marino is boisterous as always, and there's an atmospheric side trip to Paris and an affecting romantic misadventure for lonely Kay. I love Faye Kellerman’s books!