Port Mortuary

n this latest installment in the Scarpetta series, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, noted forensic pathologist, is now director of the Cambridge Forensic Center in Massachusetts. While she's been away at Dover Air Force Base on a six-month assignment, things have gone very wrong at the CFC; the bodies are piling up; her second in command, Jack Fielding, has gone missing; and Kay may be the next target. This dark, brooding story, told in primarily the first person, is mired in detail that lends little and irritates much. Kate Burton's delivery is often rushed. Her credible variation of accents lends interest but cannot overcome the listener's weariness in the face of so much introspection and useless melodrama. Not Cornwell's best effort. A.C.P. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine