At Risk by
Patricia Cornwell
pbk out June 06
(Little Brown)
at £10.99
Briefer and brisker than the renowned Kay Scarpetta novels, Patricia
Cornwell's At Risk introduces Winston Garano, a talented Massachussets
investigator who is summoned by the District Attorney to re-open a 20-year
old murder case using modern DNA profiling. This is a part of the Governor's
new crime initiative, christened At Risk because every time an offender is
caught society is less at risk. It's no surprise to learn that there are elections
coming up, and that society is not the only thing at risk.
Win is understandably reluctant to give any sort of priority to such an old case
when there are always new ones queuing up for attention, but he is not in a
position to refuse. And apart from anything else, D. A. Monique Lamont sees
the case as furthering not only her own but Win's career. Lamont is not a
pleasant character, and it is hard not to be suspicious when she herself is
apparently the victim of a vicious rape. But the attack was genuine, and Win
now has another serious crime to investigate.
Unofficially aided by colleague Delma Sykes, and even more unofficially by
his all-seeing Nana, Winston does crack both cases, but not without
uncovering an awful lot of political unpleasantness. The novel has pace,
intrigue, inventiveness and above all a new set of characters – and these are
characters it would be good to encounter again.
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At Risk by
Patricia Cornwell
