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Trace (novel)
Encyclopedia
Trace is a crime fiction
novel by Patricia Cornwell
.
series by author Patricia Cornwell
.
, having left Richmond, Virginia
five years ago to become a freelancer, is asked to return at the request of her replacement, Chief Medical Examiner Joel Marcus. A young girl has been murdered, but very few clues are available. In parallel her niece Lucy is investigating an attack on her companion Henri. Henri has been sent for analysis and safe keeping to stay with Benton Wesley, Scarpetta's partner. Scarpetta's investigations are hampered by Marcus's ineptness and the disarray of her former lab.
In Trace, one of Scarpetta’s former employees, Edgar Allan Pogue, is discovered to be pursuing her niece, Lucy. Although diagnosed as “psychotic” by Benton Wesley, a criminal profiler, a number of chapters are narrated from his perspective which help to account for his behaviour. This change in narrative style from the first-person narration of Kay herself is one first seen in the previous work in the series, Blow Fly
. This device not only allows for more characters and their perspectives to come to the fore, but also marks a significant transformation in the way that the novels represent the criminal. Where previously the criminal’s mind was never made available to the reader – thus intensifying their “otherness” – the later novels allow space to explore their point of view and uncover their motivations.
The writing crudely diminishes all those whom Scarpetta dislikes, leaving the reader little space for judgement. The third person brings out the self focussed contradictory mind set of many of the familiar characters. It is not clear whether this is intended by Cornwall. For example Scarpetta constantly is said to have been fired from her role as Chief Medical Examiner, yet her resignation is well set out in The Last Precinct, along with her internal satisfaction at resigning. In Trace she complains about not being told the building that once housed her office was being destroyed, yet in earlier books she constantly complained about its limitations of the building. In a similar way Lucy, her niece, is derogatory about her neighbor for her house, reliance on security, interest in her neighbors - all traits equally applicable to Lucy. That the criminal is portrayed as driven by an insult by Lucy when a child a decade before the period of the book also goes to the series self focus - the various killers from Carrie Grethren to Chandonne and now to Pogue each come to target Scarpetta.
, Miami, Florida
, and Aspen, Colorado
.
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
novel by Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Cornwell is a contemporary American crime writer. She is widely known for writing a popular series of novels featuring the heroine Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner.-Early life:...
.
Plot introduction
Trace is the thirteenth book of the Dr. Kay ScarpettaKay Scarpetta
Kay Scarpetta is a fictional character and protagonist in a series of crime novels written by Patricia Cornwell. The character is based on former Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Marcella Fierro, MD. The series is noted for the use of recent forensic technology in Scarpetta's investigations.-...
series by author Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Cornwell is a contemporary American crime writer. She is widely known for writing a popular series of novels featuring the heroine Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner.-Early life:...
.
Plot summary
Dr. Kay ScarpettaKay Scarpetta
Kay Scarpetta is a fictional character and protagonist in a series of crime novels written by Patricia Cornwell. The character is based on former Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Marcella Fierro, MD. The series is noted for the use of recent forensic technology in Scarpetta's investigations.-...
, having left Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
five years ago to become a freelancer, is asked to return at the request of her replacement, Chief Medical Examiner Joel Marcus. A young girl has been murdered, but very few clues are available. In parallel her niece Lucy is investigating an attack on her companion Henri. Henri has been sent for analysis and safe keeping to stay with Benton Wesley, Scarpetta's partner. Scarpetta's investigations are hampered by Marcus's ineptness and the disarray of her former lab.
Characters in "Trace"
- Kay ScarpettaKay ScarpettaKay Scarpetta is a fictional character and protagonist in a series of crime novels written by Patricia Cornwell. The character is based on former Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Marcella Fierro, MD. The series is noted for the use of recent forensic technology in Scarpetta's investigations.-...
- Former Medical Examiner - Benton Wesley - Profiler
- Lucy Farinelli - Kay's niece
- Pete Marino - Detective
Major themes
- The hunt for the murderer of a young girl called Gilly Paulsson
- The threat of a stalker targeting Lucy and her lover
Literary significance & criticism
This novel was considered to be an improvement over previous lacklustre installments by some reviewers . Dale Singer of the St Louis Post Dispatch described the book as combining "sensitivity to human emotions with the latest in forensic techniques - and one of the creepiest villains to come along since "Silence of the Lambs." Others, however, considered it to be repetitious and meandering, still not a full return to form.In Trace, one of Scarpetta’s former employees, Edgar Allan Pogue, is discovered to be pursuing her niece, Lucy. Although diagnosed as “psychotic” by Benton Wesley, a criminal profiler, a number of chapters are narrated from his perspective which help to account for his behaviour. This change in narrative style from the first-person narration of Kay herself is one first seen in the previous work in the series, Blow Fly
Blow Fly (novel)
-Plot introduction:Blow Fly is the twelfth book of the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series by author Patricia Cornwell.-Plot summary:After her resignation as Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner and the horrifying events which threatened her life in The Last Precinct, Kay Scarpetta has abandoned her elegant home...
. This device not only allows for more characters and their perspectives to come to the fore, but also marks a significant transformation in the way that the novels represent the criminal. Where previously the criminal’s mind was never made available to the reader – thus intensifying their “otherness” – the later novels allow space to explore their point of view and uncover their motivations.
The writing crudely diminishes all those whom Scarpetta dislikes, leaving the reader little space for judgement. The third person brings out the self focussed contradictory mind set of many of the familiar characters. It is not clear whether this is intended by Cornwall. For example Scarpetta constantly is said to have been fired from her role as Chief Medical Examiner, yet her resignation is well set out in The Last Precinct, along with her internal satisfaction at resigning. In Trace she complains about not being told the building that once housed her office was being destroyed, yet in earlier books she constantly complained about its limitations of the building. In a similar way Lucy, her niece, is derogatory about her neighbor for her house, reliance on security, interest in her neighbors - all traits equally applicable to Lucy. That the criminal is portrayed as driven by an insult by Lucy when a child a decade before the period of the book also goes to the series self focus - the various killers from Carrie Grethren to Chandonne and now to Pogue each come to target Scarpetta.
Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
Set in Richmond, VirginiaRichmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, and Aspen, Colorado
Aspen, Colorado
The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...
.