Still Life with Crows



Still Life With Crows is a novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child first published in 2003. It is the fourth novel in their informal Agent Pendergast series.

A bizarre, ritualistic killing rocks the sleepy Kansas town of Medicine Creek. While the locals think it is just one particularly gruesome murder, Agent Pendergast arrives and declares that a serial killer is on the loose. As more bodies turn up, the local sheriff rushes to find the killer before it spoils a deal that could save the town. As usual, Pendergast believes that something more sinister is afoot.


 * Abusive Parents: Corrie's drunken mother takes no shame in telling her daughter how worthless she thinks she is. She also spends all their money on mini-vodka bottles and Corrie is left to survive on cereal.
 * Alone with the Psycho:
 * The Alcoholic: Corrie's mom.
 * All Men Are Perverts: When Corrie's mother learns she's working for Pendergast she insists that this is the real reason he's hired her.
 * Attending Your Own Funeral:.
 * Badass Grandma:.
 * Better to Die Than Be Killed: Used twice..
 * Busman's Holiday: Pendergast claims he is on this.
 * Cute Bookworm: Corrie keeps a dozen different novels in her backseat.
 * Delinquents: Corrie.
 * Disappeared Dad: Corrie's father.
 * Dying Town: Medicine Creek.
 * Emo Teen: Corrie, again.
 * Eureka Moment: Sheriff Hazen figures out where the killer is hiding when Larssen asks
 * Feuding Families: Lavender accuses Hazen of having this as his motivation for suggesting he is involved with the murders.
 * Fish Out of Water: Pendergast is this once he appears in the small Kansas town of Medicine Creek.
 * Former Teen Rebel: Winifred Kraus had her crazy days as a teen. Corrie is on the path to straightening out and becoming one as well.
 * Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Pendergast slaps Lefty to get his senses back after . Larssen slaps Brast.
 * I Am a Humanitarian: There is clear evidence that the killer is cooking and eating his victims.
 * I Just Want to Have Friends:
 * Intrepid Reporter: Ludwig so wants to be a "real" reporter.
 * Lost in the Maize: So much.
 * Madwoman in the Attic:.
 * Meaningful Echo: Pendergast notes that the fourth victim was gutted by the killer "to lighten his load." This is in direct reference to Brushy Jim's story about the Ghost Massacre.
 * My Life Flashed Before My Eyes: Corrie goes into this twice while.
 * Not So Stoic: The normally suave and charming Pendergast gets unusually stern with Wren when he mentions his brother.
 * Never Found the Body: Corrie mentions this trope by name when talking about the local gossip and town secrets to Pendergast.
 * No One Could Survive That:.
 * Not Quite Dead:.
 * Offscreen Teleportation: Justified -.
 * Papa Wolf: Hazen loses it when
 * Powder Keg Crowd: The entire town gathers at the church on Sunday for some reassurement. When the pastor repeats a sermon he's been giving for thirty years instead of something relevant, things get way out of hand.
 * Properly Paranoid: Willie Stott chastises himself for worrying about the killer being in the field his car breaks down by. "Yeah, right. Five billion acres of corn and some nutcase is lying in wait, right between here and the Wagon Wheel."
 * Psychopathic Manchild:.
 * Scooby-Doo Hoax: Sheriff Hazen's theory of the crime.
 * Self-Deprecation: Corrie is reading a book entitled Beyond The Ice Limit, a direct reference to Preston and Child's 2000 novel The Ice Limit (and their promise to produce a sequel). She finds it less than stellar and comments that it's not nearly as good as the first novel.
 * Serial Killer: As soon as Pendergast shows up in town, he declares the murder to be the work of a serial killer instead of just being an isolated incident.
 * The Sheriff: Hazen.
 * The Slacker: Corrie, at the beginning.
 * Tragic Monster:.
 * Small Town Boredom: All Corrie can think about is getting out of Medicine Creek. It's why she takes the job with Pendergast.
 * Stepford Smiler: Art Ridder.
 * Suddenly Significant City: This will be the fate of whichever town gets the experimental corn field.
 * Wild Child: