Medical Examiner, Dr. Kay Scarpetta has just been through an incredibly traumatic event. The villain from Black Notice, the evil Le Loup Garou, showed up on her doorstop with intent on killing her in the same grisly fashion as his numerous other victims. Kay is successful in thwarting him, the police arrive, and her house is taken over as a crime scene. Forced to leave the premises, she goes to stay with her long time friend, psychiatrist Dr. Anna Zenner.

Things go from bad to worse when Kay learns that Le Loup Garou had committed a murder in New York City two years prior to his arrival in her fair city of Richmond, Virginia. When prosecutor Jaime Berger breezes into town and literally takes over the investigation, Kay fears that the Richmond victims will never see justice in a Virginia courtroom. Little does Kay know that she will soon see the inside of a courtroom - not as a witness, but as a defendant accused of a crime she didn’t commit.

The Last Precinct is by far the most depressing entry in the Scarpetta series. Readers who thought it possibly couldn’t get darker than Black Notice should brace themselves for the onslaught. The first hundred pages are really nothing more than Kay’s musings to Dr. Zenner, as she talks about all the horrific things that have occurred in her life over the last few years. Readers interested in learning Kay’s state of mind may find this potion of the story fascinating - I just found it boring.

Through the first half, there isn’t really any mystery to speak of. It’s all about Kay, Le Loup Garou’s arrest and the arrival of Jaime Berger. Frankly, it was all too easy for me to put the book down. There was nothing to rivet me to the pages and stay up reading past my bedtime.

When I was about to give up on this story, Cornwell began to remind me why I have been a long time fan. The arrival of two dead bodies with similar injuries soon has Kay back in the morgue. Along with her comrade, Captain Pete Marino, she is soon working to uncover the mysteries of their deaths and how they are connected with the ongoing case against Le Loup Garou.

While the majority of the book takes a leisurely pace, when the mystery kicks in, the last hundred pages are unstoppable. The action takes on a frenzied pace that had this reader devouring the last portion of the story in record time. While there are a couple of loose ends that Cornwell doesn’t tie up, there’s incredible promise for her to deliver a knock out with a book #12 in this series.

Fans of the series will want to pick up this latest addition if nothing more than to enjoy the wild ride that the last half of the book promises. Those who want to delve deeper into Kay’s psyche will more than likely find the first half more enjoyable than I did. For those not familiar with the series, I recommend this not be the book to start with. So much of the story depends on events that took place in Black Notice (and to some extent Point of Origin), that newcomers may find themselves a little lost.

After a slow start, Kay Scarpetta returns in high form. The Last Precinct is an inevitable bestseller that will leave fans hungry for the next installment.

--Wendy Crutcher