After a few very, very weak books, Cornwell is back on the proverbial wagon with Book of the Dead. Without too much or all too overt preaching (apart from the systematic Bush-bashing), she engages with some interesting themes (sexual and psychological violence, war, masculinity), reflecting them in the lives of her main characters as well as her criminals.

In the last third of the book, the plot veers away from psychological interest and every-day life, offering more of the implausible super-villain stuff that was the problem with the approximately seven thousand werewolf books that destroyed the series to begin with. That said, the denouement is deftly done and fairly entertaining – had I been reading a physical book I probably just would have read faster at this point and been less annoyed with stuff that nagged at me now.

Most importantly, we get excellent developments on Scarpetta, Lucy, Marino, Rose – and a new character I like very much, Bull. I genuinely thought the Scarpetta series was beyond repair, but I am genuinely looking forward the next installment!

The production of the unabridged audio book is excellent, Kate Reading’s narration top notch.