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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What had Scarpetta done to Cagney's office when it became hers?

2. What was Lori Peterson's profession?

3. What does the laser find of Peterson's body?

4. Who pulls in for dinner while Lucy and Scarpetta are making dinner?

5. What does Scarpetta say about the clock that is over the train station at the cities lower end?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the scene in chapter two where Scarpetta is alone in the morgue.

2. What is Scarpetta told while in Amburgey's office in chapter six?

3. Describe what is talked about in chapter six while Scarpetta is in Amburgey's office.

4. Describe the differences that Scarpetta talks about between her and the previous medical examiner, Cagney.

5. What does Scarpetta say has happened in the city since the newspaper reporters began covering the murders?

6. In chapter one what does Scarpetta note about the victims?

7. What does Scarpetta note about Marino and his thoughts on suspects for Lori Peterson's killer.

8. In chapter two what does Scarpetta note about Lori Peterson's injuries?

9. What does Matt Peterson tell the police about his wife during the questioning in chapter four?

10. What does Marino find out about the rape charges that Matt Peterson had been brought up on when he was younger?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is it that Scarpetta feels for the victims that she has had to autopsy for this murder? What does it reveal about Scarpetta that she has let it get to her on a personal level? Could part of the reason she has taken these murder's to heart be in part because she is a woman.

Essay Topic 2

Part 1) Explain the relationship that Lucy and Scarpetta have.

Part 2) What does Lucy represent for Scarpetta? What does Scarpetta represent for Lucy?

Part 3) What is significant in Lucy's statement at the end of the story that Scarpetta is sounding just like Scarpetta's mother?

Essay Topic 3

Part 1) Is Scarpetta a believable character? Is the way that she claims to be treated different because she is female seemingly realistic in a modern setting? Explain.

Part 2) What other prejudices are seen in the story.

(see the answer keys)

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