Continuing my fascination with the crime genre, my discovery of author Patricia Cornwall while I was at university threw me headlong back into a much loved concept of my childhood memories of reading: the joy of being able to follow a story and it's characters through an extended series.
For most of my life I have been a fan of a variety of series (starting somewhat inauspiciously with Ann M. Martin's Baby Sitter's Club series and followed shortly after by Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley High and eventually Sweet Valley University series). While I certainly would not try to claim that these, nor any other series I have come across to date, can be viewed as serious literature, what they have instilled in me is an appreciation for the ability of good serial writers to constantly develop their characters in a way that not only makes the reader want to find out what happens next, but have them groaning with frustration and anticipation when they discover that they have to wait for the next piece of the journey to be published.
Patricia Cornwell has certainly achieved this for me on many ocassions through her gradual, yet natural development of Dr Kay Scarpetta in her Scarpetta series. This series focuses on the professional and personal life of a forensic pathologist whose career beginning in the early 80s significantly challenges the stereotypes of the Virginian society in which she lives. As the series progresses the reader becomes closer to not only the female protagonist but also those around her.
As the series progresses Cornwell, through Scarpetta, addresses a variety of social issues, ranging from broken marriages, homosexuality, unrequited love and terrorism, all the while thrilling her readers with tales of heinous crimes.
For those who love shows like CSI, this is the crime series for you as it focuses less on the prosectution of offenders and spends more time exploring the crime, finding and then interpreting the clues.
For a full list of the Scarpetta series to date, see the link below:
1 comment:
Just read the second latest edition to the series, "Scarpetta", and was very impressed. There was a lot of information that needed to be covered in order to provide some links between the previous novel and this one and I believe that Cornwell has achieved a solid sense of cohesion without intefering with the progression of this particular story and it's substrands. Now I just need to go out and buy the most recent one!
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