If you're a fan of Stephen King, you know that he had released several novels early in his career under a pseudonym. He later explained that writing under another name allowed him to have a different personality as a writer, a darker personality.

The same idea could be applied to Cornwell's divergence from the Kay Scarpetta novels that made her famous. She may not be using someone else's name, but it feels like it isn't her writing the book.

Maybe I enjoy Scarpetta and her subject matter too much. This one has nothing to do with forensics and instead follows a police officer named Andy Brazil. The first-person voice of "doctor/lawyer/indian chief" is gone (as are the characters that made the Scarpetta books so relatable: Marino, Lucy, and Scarpetta herself in all her brilliance and vulnerability). Most of the characters seem more like caricatures, and the main conflict veers off into left field. I read it once, but it wasn't as engaging as the other Andy Brazil books which preceded it (Hornet's Nest and Southern Cross).