Hornet's Nest I finished reading Hornets Nest by Patricia Cornwell yesterday. This novel is not about Dr. Kay Scarpetta, but it was pretty entertaining. We have three, high powered female police officers; the chief of police (Hammond)and two deputy chiefs (West and Goode)trying to crack the case of a serial killer named Pumpkin Head. And a young reported by the name of Andy Brazil. Andy's father was a cop and died when Andy was young. His mother is an alcoholic, leaving him to be the parent in the relationship. Andy is fit and attractive, everyone that sees him lusts after him. Gay, straight, doesn't matter all are ga ga over him. He works as police beat reporter and a volunteer police officer. I never heard of such a thing. Anyway, he gets to ride along with our Deputy Chief West and he thinks she is more than just a great cop. Deputy Chief West is a 40 something professional with two bad habits...smoking and junk food. Because she spends most of her time behind a desk she is not as fit as she used to be. She owns a cat named Niles who believes he is descended from the ancient Egyptians. Yes, Niles actually narrates parts of the story and provides clues to his beloved master, that help her solve the crime...or at least a portion of it. Anyway, she is selected to work with Andy and to keep the reporter out of harm's way on his ride alongs. Unfortunately, whenever they are on the street together they get a lot of dangerous calls. Depute Chief Goode is less than honorable and having an affair with an on-air TV news personality. She feeds him stories to scoop Andy's printed articles. She is competitive and wants to be the top cop. Little does she know, that is not her destiny. I was glad she got the axe in the end. With cops like that, who needs bad guys. Police Chief Hammon is probably in her 50's. She is in a less than happy marriage and has two grown sons. She is fit and takes care of herself. Her husband does not. And that is part of the problem. She is smart and likes her job. Anyway, this crew, gets their she-male and all live happily ever after...or do they? The ending left room to continue. I missed Dr. Kay, but it was nice to read something else by Cornwell. The story kept moving, but sometimes felt disorganized. bjf