Hornet's Nest - Patricia Cornwell

Patricia Cornwell is one of my favorite authors. I have tried to read everything she has written and loved all of it. I have followed the thrilling cases of her ongoing character, Dr. Kay Scarpetta who is present in most of her novels that I have read and loved. So, when I saw a novel I hadn’t read yet, I didn’t read the inside dust cover to see what it was about. I just expected Dr. Scarpetta to appear on the first page and thrill me with another tale of suspense and crime. However, this was not to happen. After the first 20 pages, I realized that my much admired doctor was not going to make an appearance.

When you find a favorite author, especially one who writes a series with one main character, I think it is sometimes hard to read other books by the author that step outside what you have known them for. However, having an open mind, I decided that I would read the book anyway. After all, I like her writing style and the first pages were promising. I would see where she goes with it. It was still a crime novel. Cornwell developed the two main characters in the beginning very well. I settled in for a good read, convinced that I would have another great Cornwell novel on my hands. However, this was not to happen either.

As I turned page after page, I found more characters introduced. And more, and more. And more story threads were being woven in. Which would be fine. There is nothing better in a crime novel to have tangled threads interwoven throughout the tale. Too many suspects, too many twists, those can be a great thing in a mystery. However, Cornwell missed one BIG point in this story. In the end, you have to wrap it up neatly in a pretty box and actually resolve all of the strings that you started. That is where this book sadly falls down, among other things. Too many of the characters had no use and could have been left out. Many of the threads she introduced ended up dangling at the end like an annoying hang nail.

The crime itself in this novel seems to have been added as an afterthought. There is suppose to be a serial killer on the loose. However, the murders were not focused on and it appears that every couple of chapters, Cornwell remembered it was suppose to be a crime novel and kills off another business man. Add in a few crime scene details and then get back to the mindless exploration of other characters. There is little or no development of the serial killer’s character at all or the crimes they commit. Instead, we meet a redneck named Bubba who has nothing to do with the story. Or an old lady who they have to arrest who is confused and drunk. Why in the world would three pages be dedicated to this old lady? Why are we subjected to several different episodes with Bubba., who wants revenge due to a scene early in the book? Yet, he really has nothing to do with the story. I felt that we would have been much better served if she had gone into greater detail about the serial crimes that were present.

It also seems that Cornwell decided to use this book as a pet peeve pulpit. Using her characters to take a stand on feminist outrages, social injustices and stereotypical beliefs. Thrown in also are odd story lines that seem sadly out of place. Cornwell’s use of description usually is sharp and focused with purpose. Unfortunately, in this book, her descriptions seem to be oddly placed on things such as the weapons they use and a great deal of background history on unnecessary characters. One of the worst occurrences was West’s cat, Niles. We are subjected to several scenes where we were given insight into the cat’s thoughts and actions. It seems at several points in the story we are needlessly subjected to insight of the cat’s lineage and history. Why? I have no clue. Now, there is a small part the cat played in supposedly solving part of the crime, but it’s a real reach. It seemed that Cornwell was clasping at straws to try and even tie in any of the loose story lines, and failed miserably.

All in all, I seriously feel like this novel was a lost cause. With too many story lines, too many characters, too much detail where it wasn’t necessary I found myself reading on and on wondering if she was ever going to make a point or tie up any of the strings. The sad part is, she didn’t. Cornwell is so well known for her knowledge of crime and the political and police system. She is also great at keeping you on the edge of your seat. None of those skills were shown in this novel. Instead she seemed to meander around with her characters and have very little substance to the story. Compared to the other novels I have read by Cornwell, this was a very pale shadow. I can say that I will never again read this book. However, I have not given up on Cornwell, as I feel she is one of the best American crime writers. I have just started another book by Cornwell today. It once again stars my favorite character, Dr. Scarpetta. So I am hoping this one will go much better, but I’ll let you know.