Imagine finding something that leads you to a path in which you thought you would know where it would lead you, but instead, you end up going on a hunt with dead ends and new discoveries. In the Black Notice by Patricia Cornwell, you can actually get a feel of that because she goes into detail that can make you picture it as if you were there. The Black Notice was constantly keeping me on my feet with new things added to the equation. The book is about a cargo that carried a decomposed stowaway, and the police, one named Pete Marino, and their medical examiner, Kay Scarpetta, were in charge of this case. What’s unusual about the body is that there is no cause of death nor identification on the person, except personal belongings and an odd tattoo that will eventually lead Scarpetta and Marino on a hunt. Eventually, they end up at the headquarters of INTERPOL in Lyon, France and are given more instructions, but this time it’s to receive secret evidence that can’t get into a certain party’s hands. Scarpetta and Marino, also, get the answer they have been looking for, which is who the body was. The body was a member apart of one of the rich families, the Chandonnes. Within this family, there is a lot that goes on and Scarpetta and Marino learn this through an INTERPOL agent. One of the sons the family is rumored to be a killer that the family is keeping hidden. With all that is thrown at Scarpetta, she finds out that her niece is somehow involved in the case that she is working on, so she must be careful when talking about the case. She realizes that she is putting her own job at risk because if it gets out what she is doing, she could potentially lose her job, lose her medical license, and receive harsh punishment. As I read through the book, I got to see Kay Scarpetta’s character change because, in the beginning, she was all sad and lonely due to losing her husband, but now she has a spark in her that craves for adventure and isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. Instead of living in a world with regulations and rules, she’s getting a taste of what it’s like to break those norms and to follow her curiosity. This may lead her to be cautious, but her determination is overpowering her to figure out the back story behind the body, and when she’s well dedicated to something, she isn’t just going to stop and leave it be. She wants to get to the bottom in order to find closure on the case. While Pete Marino is mentioned in the book, his character stayed the same, stubborn, throughout the book. He did play a major role in working with Scarpetta because as a cop he had more access to certain databases than she might since she is only a medical examiner. In the book, he also helped her create theories and different perspectives that eventually led to new discoveries. Together as a team, they were able to figure out more with the body, and found new evidence on the body. In reading this book, there was a lot going on, but in a good way because there was so much suspense, and Patricia Cornwell gave it to you a little bit at a time. I think she did this because it would allow the reader to be able to process what was going on while keeping the reader hooked onto more suspense. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy thrillers, suspense, and crime because the author did an amazing job of tying all three of those categories.
