Trace (novel)
 2004 Hardcover dustjacket | |
| Author | Patricia Cornwell |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Kay Scarpetta Mysteries |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | G. P. Putnam's Sons |
Publication date | September 2004 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages | 448 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | 0-399-15219-9 (first edition, hardback) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
| Preceded by | Blow Fly |
| Followed by | Predator |
Trace is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell.
Plot introduction
Trace is the thirteenth book of the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series by author Patricia Cornwell.
Plot summary
Dr. Kay Scarpetta, having left Richmond, Virginia five years ago to become a freelancer, is asked to return at the request of her replacment, Chief Medical Examiner Joel Marcus. A young girl has been murdered, but very few clues are available. Scarpetta's investigations are hampered by Marcus's ineptness, the disarray of her former lab, and the interference of a glamorous FBI agent.
Characters in "Trace"
- Kay Scarpetta - Former Medical Examiner
- Benton Wesley - Profiler
- Lucy Farinelli - Kay's niece
- Pete Marino - Detective
Major themes
- The hunt for the murderer of a young girl called Gilly Paulsson
- The threat of a stalker targeting Lucy and her lover
Literary significance & criticism
This novel was considered to be an improvement over previous lacklustre installments by some reviewers [1]. Dale Singer of the St Louis Post Dispatch described the book as combining "sensitivity to human emotions with the latest in forensic techniques - and one of the creepiest villains to come along since "Silence of the Lambs." [2] Others, however, considered it to be repetitious and meandering, [3] still not a full return to form.
In Trace, one of Scarpetta’s former employees, Edgar Allan Pogue, is discovered to be pursuing her niece, Lucy. Although diagnosed as “psychotic” by Benton Wesley, a criminal profiler, a number of chapters are narrated from his perspective which help to account for his behaviour.[4] This change in narrative style from the first-person narration of Kay herself is one first seen in the previous work in the series, Blow Fly. This device not only allows for more characters and their perspectives to come to the fore, but also marks a significant transformation in the way that the novels represent the criminal. Where previously the criminal’s mind was never made available to the reader – thus intensifying their “otherness” – the later novels allow space to explore their point of view and uncover their motivations.[4]
Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
Set in Richmond, Virginia, Miami, Florida, and Aspen, Colorado.
References
- ^ Review of Trace at The Mystery Reader
- ^ Singer, D. 2004. Review of Trace. St Louis Post Dispatch
- ^ Harding, M. 2004. Review of Trace. The Book Reporter
- ^ a b Dauncey, S. University of Warwick. "Patricia Cornwell." The Literary Encyclopedia. 18 Nov. 2005. The Literary Dictionary Company. 22 April 2007.