| Convicted murderer Ronnie Waddell is put to death, and it is up to Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta to perform his autopsy when the body is still warm. During a seemingly unrelated murder investigation, a young boy is found murdered, propped up much like one of Waddell's early victims. And when one of Waddell's prints shows up near the body, Scarpetta must unconver how a dead inmate could have possibly committed another murder AFTER his death... | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70% Special suspect? - chronically deranged person Misc. Murder Plotlets - local police w/ IQ of a houseplant - Big focus on forensic evidence - Big focus on autopsies - Killer purposely leaves clues Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 0 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Eccentric: Yes Motive of antagonist - kicks How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters Setting United States Yes The US: - Northeast - Mid-Atlantic states Misc setting - scientific labs Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey descriptions deaths/dead bodies A lot of techno jargon? Yes Kind of jargon? - biology/medical Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript |
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