At Risk - Book Reviews

At Risk

By Patricia Cornwell

Win Garano, a Massachusetts forensic investigator is called back to base by a ballsy and politically ambitious boss to spearhead her latest high profile DNA based crime initiative, At Risk.

She thinks she has found a suitable 20 year old cold case to profile the technology and sets Win in the trail. Of course, things take a strange twist the the apparent manipulator becomes the manipulee, what was clear becomes opaque and all certainty is lost.

It's a while since I last read Cornwell and this 20p purchase from my hairdresser's charity basket offered an opportunity to reacquaint myself with an old friend, author the the much loved Kay Scarpetta series. It's a short book at just over 200 pages and within the first 20 I was hooked into an easy read story. The plot trotted along, engaging without being taxing, reaching a very satisfactory climax with a decent twist in the tail.

You get what you expect with Patricia Cornwell. She may not offer high literature but she is a consistently good storyteller, which is no bad thing for a crime writer who seeks to entertain rather than educate.

Good book, but no classic. As it says on the dust jacket "forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns."

ISBN 978-0-7515-3871-7