Cheap Point of Origin (Book) (Patricia Daniels Cornwell) Price

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Customer Reviews of Point of Origin

While there was nothing wrong with "Point of Origin", there was nothing in it to rave about either. Once again, the protagonist, medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, is faced with a baffling series of murders but, once again (and I am giving absolutely nothing away by saying this) she faces the same nemesis that we have seen in previous novels. In reading the novel, I could not help that Cornwell has become too comfortable with Carrie Grethen to be willing to branch out and create a new villain who resorts to methods other than those made so familiar by Dr. Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs."

Where Cornwell succeeds, however, is in her mastery of medical detail. The success of the Scarpetta novels hinged greatly on the fact that the reader was actually able to picture themselves at the crime scene and in the morgue as a criminal investigation was conducted. The descriptions that Cornwell makes are admittedly gory but no more so than what medical examiners are, presumably, faced with every day. One is not left with the impression that the gore is gratuitous and that is why I have kept coming back to the Scarpetta novels.

"Point of Origin" is an improvement over some of Cornwell's other more recent Scarpetta novels. If only she were willing to experiment with new characters and plot lines, rather than stick to what is becoming the same formulaic plot, her readership would only continue to grow.

Formula and stereotype trump logic
Warning, some of this may be a spoiler.

The book is full of stereotypes. The young brilliant lesbian helicopter pilot/computer genius/cop. The male slob police captain. The overweight public defender who could have used a bra and is Jewish to boot (it apparently doesn't occur to Cornwell that some people who are accused are innocent, or that everyone has the right to counsel so defense counsel are all villains in her view. Racially stereotyped villians.)

Worse than that, the plot doesn't hold water. A foal survives a fire in the stable. A lot is made of that early in the book. Then it's dropped. An escaped mental patient is able to follow and anticipate Scarpetta's every move. How did that happen? Worst of all is the stupidity of the police. A horse ranch burns. A burned car is found on the premises. A body that does not belong to the ranch or the car is found in the bathroom. The owner of the ranch early on tells Scarpetta who the person killed likely is. No attempt is made, apparently, to trace this woman's life or look for connections (such as did anyone she know own such a car) for a few weeks until Scarpetta goes out and does it herself. In fact no one ever attempts to find out who the car belongs to until it just happens that, when they find who the killer is they realize (wow!) that, hey -- this person owns that type of car. But, of course, if the police had any sense and, in investigating a murder by arson looked for who owned the car that didn't belong there, they would have found the killer in a few hours and this long book would have ended without the endless whining of Scarpetta about the state of the world and how horrible it is that people are in it that cause her to do what she does for a living.

But of course, it's hard to credit the criminal genius Scarpetta is pursuing with being diabolically clever when that person leaves an auto at the scene of the crime.

Give me a break!

A little weaker, but still good
A very enjoyable read in the Kay Scarpetta series, although a bit weaker story than some of the others. Still, well worth your time to read.