Isle of Dogs

Isle of Dogs is Patricia Cornwell’s 2001 novel, the third in her Andy Brazil and Judy Hammer series, set in the Tidewater region of Virginia. The series is a notable departure from the much better known Kay Scarpetta forensic mystery franchise that built Cornwell’s career, and the Brazil and Hammer novels lean into a comic register that her Scarpetta readers were not always prepared for. Andy Brazil is a young Virginia State Trooper, also a journalist, also blond and attractive in ways that the novels often note. Judy Hammer is the chief of police in Richmond, Virginia, and the central figure in the series.

In Isle of Dogs, Cornwell turns the satire up considerably. The plot involves the threatened secession of Tangier Island from Virginia, the ongoing feud between Hammer’s police force and various local powers, an investigation into a bizarre series of crimes, and a cast of comic figures that some critics found delightful and others found bewildering. The governor of Virginia is a character. Various Tangier Island watermen are characters. Reporters, criminals, eccentric civilians, and a recurring set of dogs all contribute to the comic chaos. The plot proper, when it surfaces, has the usual Cornwell engagement with forensic detail and police procedure, but the tone throughout is several degrees stranger than her Scarpetta readers were used to.

The Brazil and Hammer novels have always divided Cornwell’s readership. Some long time fans of her Scarpetta books found these novels disappointing departures from what they wanted from her. Others appreciated the willingness to try something different and the comic energy she brought to the project. Isle of Dogs is the entry that perhaps takes the experiment furthest from her main franchise, with results that are best appreciated by readers who go in knowing that this is not a Scarpetta novel.

For longtime Cornwell fans curious about her wider catalogue, this is essential. For new readers, start with Postmortem to get the Scarpetta experience first.