Identity Unknown (Kay Scarpetta)
“The plot is thriller-quick, the technical knowledge on display impressive.”
The title, Identity Unknown, refers to an UAP, an Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon, which may (or may not) have dropped Dr. Kay Scarpetta’s former lover, Nobel-winning astrophysicist, Sal Giordano, from a great height. Surrounded by a halo of apple blossoms, much like a crop circle, Sal’s’ body smells of vinegar and his skin has turned a strange red. The possibility that his killer is an extra-terrestrial hovers over the mystery from the beginning.
The novel is the 28th book in the Scarpetta series, the debut title being Postmortem, published in 1990 to much acclaim while Cornwell was working at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. Her experiences there inspired the creation of Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a chief medical examiner and forensic pathologist with ties to the Secret Service through her niece, Lucy Farinelli, an agent, helicopter pilot, and technical genius, as well as Scarpetta’s husband, Benton Wesley, who is a top threat analyst, both of whom have access to the highest levels of governmental intelligence and surveillance. Scarpetta’s longtime sidekick, Pete Marino, an ex-police detective, provides colorful contrast to the sophisticated Scarpetta.
As expected, the series is stuffed with details about morgues, autopsies, and forensic activities but also with a remarkable display of technical information about a twin-engine helicopter, the Doomsday Bird (which Lucy flies), the complex workings of American spy agencies, and even about scuba diving in the Chesapeake Bay—fascinating to learn that sharks inhabit the water. These details are leavened throughout and establish the author as an authority in multiple arenas, thus firmly placing her work in the thriller genre, in which technology now plays a significant role. In addition, characters are constantly on the move, another hallmark of the genre.
The novel begins as Scarpetta is performing an autopsy on seven-year-old Luna Briley, whose body tells a story of chronic physical abuse and a bullet wound that suggests that Luna didn’t accidentally shoot herself, as her parents maintain. In fact, the Brileys begin interfering with the forensic investigation immediately, with threats and using their power and wealth as tools to corrupt Scarpetta’s progress, which leads her to believe—along with the evidence she uncovers—that the Brileys probably killed their daughter and are seeking to cover up their crime. The parents are drawn as blacker-than-black evil whose tentacles reach everywhere.
In addition to the Brileys, as the investigation into Sal Giordano’s eerie death proceeds, Kay Scarpetta, her niece Lucy, her husband Benton, and Pete Marino begin to suspect that Carrie Grethen may be orchestrating what happened to Giordano. Grethen is another super-evil character, one with historical ties to everyone involved, a woman seeking revenge for past encounters in which she was scarred and maimed. Is she causing Scarpetta to suffer by murdering her ex-lover and now close friend? Are the Brileys in league with Grethen? And what about the low-flying UAP detected by US radar? Marino believes in ETs; Scarpetta doesn’t.
Although Patricia Cornwell is a well-established, prolific author, and many readers will be enthralled by her brilliantly constructed plot, others may be uncomfortable with some stylistic tics that should have been editorially eradicated years ago. Throughout, she creates run-on compound sentences, connecting two disparate independent phrases that shouldn’t be unified: “[He] unwraps a Whopper, and what I wouldn’t give for one.” Or: “He sustained severe blunt trauma after dropping from a significant height, and I open my scene case.” Cornwell also frequently employs hyperactive dialogue tags, instead of using quieter ones like “she says or she asks” that would allow the dialogue to dominate. Example: “‘And his actual research was done here,’ I make sure.” There are also some peculiar lines, such as: “He smiles into my eyes.”
The plot is thriller-quick, the technical knowledge on display impressive, and the cast—familiar to series’ readers—retains their individual, unique personalities, especially the tough guy, Pete Marino, whose many fears include flying in helicopters or entering caves. Scarpetta is also in for an emotional ride as she deals with grief over the loss of Giordano and the surging feelings she experiences when she must perform an autopsy on her special friend.
Devotees of Kay Scarpetta books will consume this new title, wishing to keep up with their intrepid heroine and learn what she and her team will investigate next.