Crime Series #18

 Port Mortuary by Patricia Cornwell 

This book was wild! The science was amazing. We start with Jack Fielding married and I was confused because the last time we mentioned him he was divorced. Well, this is wife #3. Also, Kay is apparently now a Colonel in the Air Force which is brand new information. She is out getting training on a new procedure and has been gone for like 6 months. Now, there is a murder basically right across the street from her house and the General in charge of her is trying to keep her from going home. She also has set up a new business, but because she has been gone Jack has been in charge. He's been doing a terrible job. So, when she gets home she has to deal with this body and with the mess Jack left. Turns out the kid was murdered. Jack is back on steroids and has been acting crazy. We get a bit of his backstory: that he was in a home for troubled boys and was abused by the social worker. Her fathered her child when he was 12. Now, his daughter, Dawn, is in the picture and she's brilliant. She's also tied to two of the murders: a child, and the mystery body that was murdered. All of the evidence points to Jack but I knew it wasn't him. I was convinced the General had something to do with it, but it turns out he was trying to protect Kay by keeping her away from the investigation. Dawn was the real killer, and she killed Jack too. Then, she showed up at Kay's house and tried to kill her; the only thing that saved Kay was that her hands were too full so she put on the new body armor she was supposed to be testing. I was both completely right and completely wrong on my guesses for this one!