Title:	Sharp Force
	Author:	Patricia Cornwell
	Published:	October 7, 2025, Grand Central Publishing
	No. of Pages:	400
	Cover Price:	$27.90 Hardcover, $32.00 Paperback, $14.99 Kindle, $22.04 Audio Book

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Fans of Kay Scarpetta will want to pick up Sharp Force, the 29th installment of the Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell. In this excellent novel, Kay and her husband Benton are called on Christmas Morning to a murder by a serial killer known as the Phantom Slasher. Kay knew the latest victim, who was a psychiatrist, and who had treated Lucy in her college days. Each of the slasher’s murders are preceded by a ghost-like hologram. There was another person in the house of the last victim, the nephew of a powerful senator, and he received slashes, but wasn’t killed; because of this, he becomes the prime suspect. There are also subplots that Kay and Marino are investigating.

Those of us who have read all of the novels in the Scarpetta series are familiar with the main characters, but Cornwell still does a good job of introducing new readers to much of the history, especially of Kay, Benton, Lucy, and Pete Marino. Her writing style is easy to read and the author has a way of building suspense and keeping readers on the edge. The storyline is excellent, and in this case, uses AI and seems to be a bit futuristic.

All told, readers will enjoy this novel. Newer readers will want to start at the beginning of the series and read them; they will love the characters and think of them as real friends.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.