Postmortem (Cornwell)

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Postmortem:

1. The most talked about features of the Scarpetta series are the gruesomely morbid descriptions of Kay's work in the medical examiner's lab—slicing and dicing corpses. Do you feel the graphic details add to or detract from her story telling?

2. Kay Scarpetta is skilled in the examiner's lab, as well as in her home kitchen and garden—a perfectionist, though not perfect. Discuss Kay as a character. Is she likable, admirable, capable of friendship and intimacy? Does Cornwell sacrifice character development for plot?

3. Talk about Lucy and her relationships with both her mother and her aunt. Does Lucy intrigue you or irritate you? Discuss her role in the plot.

4. Was the ending satisfying—does the story lead up to it organically, or was it completely unexpected? Did you suspect someone else along the way?

5. Cornwell says she received criticism from women who felt it was wrong for Kay to be rescued by a male. What do you think?

6. This could also be a good book to kick off a discussion on the progress of women. When Cornwell first wrote Postmortem in the late 1980's, publishers objected to Kay's role as a medical examiner, an unusual—and inappropriate—role for a woman. Nearly 20 years, 14 books, and 5 tv serials later, female medical examiners are no longer unusual. How did we get here—and what was gained...or lost along the way?

7. Critics have also raised questions about the possibility of Cornwall's books, particularly this one about a serial killer, spawning copycat crimes. Cornwall defends her books, point-ing out that, historically, copy cats have been spurred more by tv coverage of school shootings than by books. Do you agree or disagree?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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