If you want to experience the life of a medical examiner (Forensic Examiner) through the pages of a skilled writer, you should read Point of Origin by Patricia Cornwell. Cornwell takes you from murder to murder and shows you the depths of forensics while cracking the crime scene at the same time.

     Her heroin, Kay Scarpetta, is Virginia's chief medical examiner. She is put up against an audacious killer who uses fire to mask his crimes. Kay travels from expert to expert and discusses marks on the skull and their meaning and bearing on a case. She also takes you into her morgue. Over here, she performs her many autopsies with you as her audience. You can see her make a Y-incision and learn why bones are boiled after an autopsy. The medical terminology in this novel is amazing! It is like taking a lesson in Criminalistics.

     While showing us the inner workings of a forensic investigator, she also shows us what its like to be a member of ATF (Fire Investigator's Squad) dealing with a serial arsonist. She frantically runs from fire to fire and looks for clues as to the fire's point of origin and who the arsonist is. While she gets personally involved with the fires of this arsonist, she puts us at the ends of our seats and tears in our eyes.

     I would recommend this novel to anyone! Patricia Cornwell really knows how to keep her readers enthralled while delivering a wealth of information. Read this novel, and watch a medical examiner in action!