Patricia Cornwall books

Really? Am I the first to be the pedant who points out that he (sic) name is CornwEll with an E not an A, as in the English county?

No, I doubt that you're the first person to spot it but, as every other post has correctly spelt her name, it's possible that they just accepted it as a simple spelling mistake or an auto correct. Similar to you missing the "r" off "her" I expect.

I guess we all knew what the OP meant when the she put Cornwall, so we just commented on the books. I like your Harlan Coben reminder.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, Harmonypuss - if you're going to pull someone up on their spelling of Patricia Cornwell, then it might have been a good idea to ensure you were spelling HARLAN Coben's name correctly too! Harlan - not Harlen...

Really? Am I the first to be the pedant who points out that he name is CornwEll with an E not an A, as in the English county?

That aside, anyone who reads Patricia's books will know that, unless indicated otherwise, they all follow a single story thread about Kay Scarpetta, her work, family and friends. They can be read as standalone books, but always have references to things that have happened in previous books.

Yes, I am a longstanding fan, and eagerly await each new installment, usually released in the UK each November, although, I found this year's offering in Tesco in October.

I am an avid reader, getting through between 3 and 5 books a week, and do love a good Val McDermid, Karin Slaughter, Kathy Reichs, James Patterson, Harlen Coben, Lee Child, Karen Rose, etc, but Patricia Cornwell will always be my favourite.

Nicci French/Nicci Gerrard ( same person ) books are very good. I didn’t particularly enjoy the couple of Patricia Cornwall books that I read.

soda pop, I read the latest Karen Slaughter on holiday and left the book for an unsuspecting next guest - I agree with yiu, it was poor. Her name gives a clue to her books but until this one, I’d enjoyed them, enjoyed the long term characters and relationships. You’re right, this was a mishmash of horrid things

The best PD James's I adore, for me she's a bit uneven - I like the later ones best. Ruth Rendell was really good, believable plots & unspectacular but really well drawn characters.I've been reading crime since I outgrew Enid Blyton.I've read a few Patricia Cornwells if they're in a guest room or something, but not an author I seek out.

I loved Patricia Cornwell`s books years ago, then she seemed to go off the boil, and I gave up buying them. However, I recently bought and read Livid, and quite enjoyed it, so might give her another go.

I found Karin Slaughter's last book to be quite off putting. So many awful things within one family. The ending was a total mish mash of horrible things. Sorry Grunty I'm used to reading crime fiction but this was a step too far.

For me, no one can beat PD James for characterisation and plot, written really well.

I used to like Patricia Cornwell books years ago and bought one a few months back, can't remember the title now as it went to the charity shop but was about 2 people found dead in the woods - it was completely boring.

Unfortunately, some authors after a couple books tend to use the same 'formula', and yes they aren't nearly as interesting.

If you'd like to try a Canadian mystery series, check out Louise Penny.

I enjoyed her earlier books, was disappointed with her latest offering. I found it uninspiring and dull, unfortunately.

Grunty

Karin Slaughter writes a gripping book. And Barbara Nadel's series of Inspector Ikmen, set in Istanbul are excellent too.

I love both those authors. Also Stuart McBride, Val McDermid, Kathy Reichs, JD Oswald...I could go on and on. Ninety per cent of my Kindle books must be crime related!

Same here. I loved all her earlier books but as many of you say but then she just seemed to get far too technical for my poor brain to comprehend and they just became boring. I m also a fan of Karin Slaughter and Kathy Reichs. Also enjoy Karen Rose and all the interactions between the different areas.

I gave up reading Patricia Cornwall books I felt I needed an medical exaclopedia to understand some of the things she was explaining. I have about 9 books, off to the book bank.

Working my way thru Lynda La Plante thanks to borrowbooks audio available from library service.

Karin Slaughter writes a gripping book. And Barbara Nadel's series of Inspector Ikmen, set in Istanbul are excellent too.

I’m another ±who stopped reading Patricia Cornwall. Nthings went downhill after she had Marino rape Scarpetta. She later regretted this plot device. I could never imagine the two of them coming back from that.
I found the way she developed the characters tedious. Kate Atkinson, Ellie Griffiths, Stuart McBride, Michael Connolly, Ian Rankin and PDJames

MissInterpreted

I'm the same. I used to love her books, but I feel they've become very formulaic of late. I actually did enjoy the 'gory' bits, but that's just me. I think I'd actually have quite enjoyed being in that line of work.

Her earlier books were fine. The "gory bits" were quite refreshing after the many authors who treated violence and murder as just theoretical plot devices. Later on she seemed to think she had to be more and more explicit and to add violence and unpleasantness gratuitously. Perhaps her fans demanded this, but it put me off - and I didn't want to be told exactly what she put in her salad dressing.

Not a fan.
I used to love PD James though.

It's a shame, the later works of Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs now read like textbooks. Quite boring for most of us who just want a good well written story.

I think it was all the techie stuff her niece Lucy was involved in, went right over my head, yeah complete goobdlygook, no idea what she was on about.

Agree with all the above comments. One trick pony I suppose, sadly.

Ruth Rendell for me