First in a Crime Series

 Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell 

There was a lot in this book that hasn't aged well. There was a lot in this book that was interesting, science wise. I do not like thrillers or true crime, but I do like a good mystery, cop show, and crime novel. I think this is going to fit that bill. Kay is a medical examiner. We are starting with a serial killer. The cop, who she is not a fan of, initially suspects the husband. We are led to believe it might be the District Attorney, who Kay is casually dating; it's not him but he's bad news and they break up by the end of the book. Suspicion is cast on her 10 year old niece, Lucy, because of a computer break in; turns out that was her boss, and a plucky reporter was able to get him fired. The real culprit was a 911 operator who liked the way the callers sounded. Each victim had called once before for some reason and that's how he picked them. He had maple syrup urine disease, that's how they found him. And, he showed up at Kay's house to kill her. The cop was watching her house, on a hunch. I could not believe that disease was real. I looked it up on either the Mayo or Cleveland Clinic; it's real. The science aspect of this book was interesting, despite the fact that everyone was smoking and a doctor should know better. I will read the next book before making up my mind about this series.