Patricia Cornwell - Trace (2004)
I have some rather exciting news to report: Trace is not awful, plus, there's nary a wolfman in sight!. Indeed, people who have gone off Cornwell over the last few years may well be gratified by this. I can't say I haven't been a bit miffed with all the Cornwell-bashing that's been going on (whatever anyone may claim, she has not been that bad), but I can at least understand why some fans haven't been too pleased of late. The problem is that now almost everyone has been conditioned into dislike. However, while Trace does have a few problems -- I'll get to them later -- she gets several things damn right, and goes right back to what made the series so successful in the first place: forensics, and Scarpetta.
After being fired five years ago, Kay Scarpetta has largely been doing consultancy work. Now, she is called back to Richmond to take a look at a case. Fourteen year-old Gilly Paulsson is dead, but shouldn't be. Despite her oddly-behaved mother's insistence that she "died from flu," no cause of death can be ascertained. None at all. There is no reason why she died. Under pressure from on high, Scarpetta's successor Dr Joel Marcus phones her in Florida. Thus Dr Kay Scarpetta returns.
Returns to a Richmond where her old building is being demolished, and where the medical examiner system is in chaos after four and a half years without a permanent chief. Things aren't getting better under Marcus, either: he's pretty incompetent, and resents Scarpetta. Cornwell actually does very well with Marcus; despite the fact that he's rather petty, you may feel a tiny shred of sympathy for a man completely unable to step out of Scarpetta's shadow. Oh, and he has a fear of garbage trucks, which, I'm sorry, may be a bit wacky, but is a stroke of genius.
Meanwhile, niece Lucy is having problems as well. Henri, an agent from her investigation agency, The Last Precinct, has been attacked in Lucy's home. While Lucy investigates suspicious evidence left at the scene, Henri is shipped off to Aspen to the care of Benton Wesley, who will attempt to help her recover memories of the attack. Interspersed among all this is the creepy figure of Edgar Allan Pogue, who's a little too fond of dead bodies.
As I say, the book is not at all bad. It's pretty damn good, in fact. Some of the initial scenes, in which Scarpetta returns to Richmond and witnesses the upheaval at the ME's office, are absolute magic, actually. Fans will be delighted to see so much of Scarpetta, as well. She gets about 2/3 of the book, with the rest going to Lucy, Benton, and the eponymous Edgar Allan. It may not be in the first person, but that isn't the point. Cornwell may (and, in truth, probably should) return to that soon, but for now fans must simply accept the change, accept that things are different. People shouldn't automatically disparage it for being third-person, but say "Regardless of what went before, is this good in its own right, on its own terms?" The answer, I feel, is definitely yes.
In its own context, the third-person does work well here, very well. The present tense does as well (when they're done right, I adore novels in the present tense). There are a few shaky constructions, certainly, but otherwise I found the style refreshing and rather addictive. Cornwell has always been a great descriptive writer, and that's not changed. Especially here, when the third-person present tense actually enhances it. One character is described as having "eyes the color of winter," which I just loved. There are many other examples as well.
Trace is also a satisfying forensic conundrum as well. Cornwell has tended to drift away from forensics lately, but here she goes back to basics, and they're excellent, which helps to present Scarpetta in her element. The science has always been a strong area -- Reichs or Slaughter may be good enough, but neither will ever be Cornwell in terms of forensics. It must also be noted that the dark cloud that had settled over the series, that so many fans whined about, has pretty much lifted here. I was also mightily pleased by the way Cornwell leaves tiny shards of mystery hanging, for the reader to figure out themselves.
It's not a book without its problems, though. Cornwell could have done herself a lot of favours if the culprit wasn't a person with a grudge against Scarpetta -- although admittedly she does succeed despite that, but I think more by chance than design. Some other aspects are a tiny bit weird, a little shaky, but passable, and while it's true that Cornwell has a tendency to deify Scarpetta, one or two reviews I've seen have greatly exaggerated that, taking sentences way out of their context and annoying me heartily.
In my mind, it's about time people stopped complaining that every novel isn't Postmortem, but that's neither here nor there. Trace ain't perfect, and I'm sure some people will still hate it regardless. But for my money this 13th Scarpetta entry is Cornwell's best book in at least half a decade.
Posted by Fiona Walker in Book Reviews | Permalink
Comments
I cant remember why Kate was fired..Can you tell me??
Posted by: Amy | Sep 3, 2005 11:23:39 AM
Sorry, I can't even reember who Kate is!
Posted by: Fiona | Sep 4, 2005 7:09:44 AM
