Crime Series #17

 The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell 

We FINALLY get some closure to a storyline that has been hanging for multiple (possibly a dozen) books. The reason this wasn't given a higher rating is because there was an entirely unnecessary storyline that did nothing to enhance the story and was left unfinished; unless it's going to be one we return to later it was superfluous. Kay, Benton, and Pete are still at odds with each other but it's more Benton and Pete than Kay. Lucy has completely moved on and is back to acting like herself again with Pete. They are in New York and Kay is working on a murdered woman who the evidence says one thing and the eye witness statements say another. This puts Kay and Jamie at odds because Jamie is basically ignoring the body. There is also a missing woman who is a high powered stock broker/investment banker. Kay is now doing spots on CNN and during one spot the interviewer is blatantly disregarding Kay's contract and trying to get her to talk about ongoing cases. A woman calls in and wants to talk to Kay, and mentions Benton. Said woman was one of Benton's patients and she sent him a talking Christmas card. Enter Hap Judd, a Hollywood superstar. He knows the missing broker and is being uncooperative until Lucy and Jamie present him with information from his time before stardom that could ruin his life. Kay gets her phone stolen while at CNN and Lucy tracks it to a hotel where the interviewer has a room, but she's not staying there - it's a FBI agent that has a grudge against Benton. This is where things unravel a bit. The whole thing with the interview, the interviewer turning on Kay, and the stealing her phone were completely unnecessary. They could have ended up at the hotel room without that after the FBI agent jumped to his death. And the interviewer seemingly didn't do anything with the phone. We eventually find out that Hap and the caller were working with The Werewolf as he was trying to rebuild his family empire. That the missing broker was dead and he killed both her and the woman that initiated the entire case. The Werewolf is now dead and that storyline is finally wrapped up. I enjoyed this a lot. The science was still fascinating and the star of the show.