Patricia Cornwell

It's Dr. Kay Scarpetta's birthday, and she's about to head to Miami for a vacation with Benton Wesley, her FBI profiler husband, when she notices seven pennies on a wall behind their Cambridge house. Is this a kids' game? If so, why are all of the coins dated 1981 and so shiny they could be newly minted? Her cellphone rings, and Detective Pete Marino tells her there's been a homicide five minutes away. A high school music teacher has been shot with uncanny precision as he unloaded groceries from his car. No one has heard or seen a thing. In this 22nd Scarpetta novel, the master forensic sleuth finds herself in the unsettling pursuit of a serial sniper who leaves no incriminating evidence except fragments of copper. The shots seem impossible, yet they are so perfect they cause instant death. The victims appear to have had nothing in common, and there is no pattern to indicate where the killer will strike next. First New Jersey, then Massachusetts, and then the murky depths off the coast of South Florida, where Scarpetta investigates a shipwreck, looking for answers that only she can discover and analyze. And it is there that she comes face to face with shocking evidence that implicates her techno genius niece, Lucy, Scarpetta's own flesh and blood. Includes an exclusive excerpt from the riveting next novel in the Kay Scarpetta series, DEPRAVED HEART.--BBC (UK)

In this novel of "nail-biting suspense" (The Boston Globe) from #1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Cornwell, Kay Scarpetta is thrust deep into the dark world of designer drugs, drone technology, organized crime, and shocking corruption at the highest levels. IN DEVELOPMENT AS THE ORIGINAL SERIES SCARPETTA STARRING NICOLE KIDMAN AND JAMIE LEE CURTIS A body, oddly draped in an unusual cloth, has just been discovered inside the sheltered gates of MIT, and it's suspected the identity is that of missing computer engineering grad student Gail Shipton, last seen the night before at a trendy Cambridge bar. It appears she's been murdered, mere weeks before the trial in her $100 million lawsuit against her former financial manager, and Massachusetts Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta doubts it's a coincidence. She also fears the case may have a connection with her computer genius niece, Lucy. At a glance there is no sign of what killed Gail Shipton, but she's covered with a fine dust that under ultraviolet light fluoresces brilliantly in three vivid colors, what Scarpetta calls a mineral fingerprint. Clearly the body has been posed with chilling premeditation that is symbolic and meant to shock, and Scarpetta worries that the person responsible is the Capital Murderer, whose most recent sexual homicides have terrorized Washington, D. C. In Dust, Scarpetta and her colleagues are up against a force far more sinister than a sexual predator who fits the criminal classification of a "spectacle killer." With unparalleled high-tension suspense and the latest in forensic technology, Patricia Cornwell once again proves her exceptional ability to surprise--and to thrill.

The twenty-first Kay Scarpetta thriller, from the No.1 bestseller who has sold over 75 million books worldwide

Kaunis ja älykäs piirisyyttäjä Monique Lamont on taitava peluri lain ja politiikan kovassa pelissä. Hän on pannut alulle hankkeen, jolla on tarkoitus kerätä varat uutta dna-laboratoriota varten ja pönkittää samalla hänen nousujohteista uraansa. Vaarassa -hankkeen kansikuvapojaksi Lamont on valinnut rikostutkija Winston Garanon. Garano kieltäytyy jyrkästi. Julkisuus ei ole hänen heiniään, eikä se totisesti auta tavallisen rikostutkijan urakehitystä. Lamont ei ole kuitenkaan tottumaton suostuttelemaan, ja pian Garano huomaa olevansa pääsemättömissä hänen pelilaudallaan. Vaarassa on uudenlaista Patricia Cornwellia. Rikostutkinnan taitava kuvaaja näyttää poliisityön laajemmassa ympäristössään, jossa määräävät politiikan suhdannevaihtelut, uutisia janoava media ja kaikkivaltias raha. Tarina on alun perin ilmestynyt jatkokertomuksena New York Times Magazinen sunnuntainumerossa, jolla on yli viisi miljoonaa lukijaa.

Dr. Kay Scarpetta's investigation takes her to the prehistoric age--and alarmingly close to home--in this "nail-bitingly . . . suspenseful" (The City Paper) thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Cornwell. IN DEVELOPMENT AS THE ORIGINAL SERIES SCARPETTA STARRING NICOLE KIDMAN AND JAMIE LEE CURTIS A woman has vanished while digging a dinosaur bone bed in the remote wilderness of Canada. Somehow, the only evidence has made its way to the inbox of Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta, over two thousand miles away in Boston. She has no idea why. But as events unfold with alarming speed, Scarpetta begins to suspect that the paleontologist's disappearance is connected to a series of crimes much closer to home: a gruesome murder, inexplicable tortures, and trace evidence from the last living creatures of the dinosaur age. When she turns to those around her, Scarpetta finds that the danger and suspicion have penetrated even her closest circles. Her niece Lucy speaks in riddles. Her lead investigator, Pete Marino, and FBI forensic psychologist and husband, Benton Wesley, have secrets of their own. Feeling alone and betrayed, Scarpetta is tempted by someone from her past as she tracks a killer both cunning and cruel.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A cold case turns red-hot when a death-row inmate renews his acquaintance with Dr. Kay Scarpetta in this "utterly chilling and] grisly, fast-paced thriller" (Entertainment Weekly). "Engaging and horrifying . . . a book that fans will want to read for the sheer voyeuristic quality of watching the characters they know so well go beyond their limits."--Houston Chronicle IN DEVELOPMENT AS THE ORIGINAL SERIES SCARPETTA STARRING NICOLE KIDMAN AND JAMIE LEE CURTIS Dr. Kay Scarpetta is settling into her new life as a private forensic consultant and is deep into a case that has left colleagues in Louisiana profoundly disturbed. A woman is found dead in a seedy hotel, dressed to go out, keys in her hand. Her history of blackouts, and her violent outbursts while under their spell, offer more questions than clues about the cause of her death. Then Scarpetta receives news that chills her to the core: Jean-Baptiste Chandonne--the vicious and unrepentant Wolfman, who pursued her to her very doorstep--has asked to see her. From his cell on death row, he demands an audience with the legendary Dr. Scarpetta. With friends and family by her side, Scarpetta tries to guess what sort of endgame this madman has in mind and how, if at all, it's related to the Louisiana case. She begins to unravel a twisting, international conspiracy and then confronts the shock of her life: a blow that will force her to question the loyalty and trust of all she holds dear.

The twentieth thriller in the Kay Scarpetta series, from the No.1 bestseller who has sold over 75 million copies worldwide

Vastoin miehensä toivetta Scarpetta lähtee Georgian naisvankilaan haastattelemaan tuomittua seksuaalirikollista, jonka tytär murhasi puoli vuotta aikaisemmin hänen entisen työtoverinsa. Tapaaminen ei suju odotetusti, ja muutenkin Scarpettasta tuntuu, että jokin on hullusti. Tahtomattaan hän sotkeutuu sadistisen tappajan seittiin. Tutkimukset johtavat laajemmalle kuin Scarpetta olisi koskaan kuvitellut. Ehtiikö hän estää kammottavan terrori-iskun?

Dr. Kay Scarpetta's investigation leads her into a terrifying terrain of conspiracy and potential terrorism on an international scale in this red-hot thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Cornwell. "Cornwell remains the master of incorporating real-life science into pulse-pounding fiction."--The Philadelphia Inquirer IN DEVELOPMENT AS THE ORIGINAL SERIES SCARPETTA STARRING NICOLE KIDMAN AND JAMIE LEE CURTIS On her quest to find out exactly what happened to her former deputy chief, Jack Fielding, murdered six months before, Dr. Kay Scarpetta drives to the Georgia Prison for Women to meet a convicted sex offender and the mother of a vicious and diabolically brilliant killer. Against the advice of her FBI criminal agent husband, Benton Wesley, Scarpetta is determined to hear this woman out. The quest is personal, but also professional. As the director of the new Cambridge Forensic Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and with her connection to the Department of Defense, Scarpetta has urgent reasons to learn more about a string of grisly killings that she feels are somehow linked to Fielding's death. The murder of a Savannah family years earlier, a young woman on death row, and then other explicable deaths that begin to occur at a breathtaking pace--all of these are related, but who is behind them, and why? Driven by inner forces, Scarpetta discovers connections that compel her to conclude that what she thought ended with Fielding's death and an attempt on her own life is only the beginning of something far more destructive. . . . And she's the only one who can stop it.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - Going home is never easy, especially for Dr. Kay Scarpetta, whose chance at redemption in comes at a cost to her soul in this "rich and satisfying" (Associated Press) thriller. "Cornwell gets her Hitchcock on. . . . She] can generate willies with subtle poetic turns."--People IN DEVELOPMENT AS THE ORIGINAL SERIES SCARPETTA STARRING NICOLE KIDMAN AND JAMIE LEE CURTIS Dr. Kay Scarpetta, now freelancing from South Florida, returns to the city that turned its back on her five years ago. Richmond, Virginia's recently appointed chief medical examiner claims that he needs Scarpetta's help to solve a perplexing crime. When she arrives, however, Scarpetta finds that nothing is as she expected: her former lab is in the final stages of demolition; the inept chief isn't the one who requested her after all; her old assistant chief has developed personal problems that he won't reveal; and a glamorous FBI agent, whom Scarpetta dislikes instantly, meddles with the case. Deprived of assistance from colleagues Benton and Lucy, who are embroiled in what first appears to be an unrelated attempted rape by a stalker, Scarpetta is faced with investigating the death of a fourteen-year-old girl, working with the smallest pieces of evidence--traces that only the most thorough hunters can identify. Now she must follow the twisting leads and track the strange details in order to make the dead speak. . . .

The nineteenth Kay Scarpetta thriller, from the No.1 bestseller of over 75 million books worldwide

New Yorkin Central Parkista löytyy alaston nuoren naisen ruumis. Murhatapa on järkyttävän tuttu poliisiylilääkäri Kay Scarpettalle. Kuudennessa Scarpetta -trilerissä Kay saa pelätä omankin henkensä puolesta, kun Gaultin tihutyöt tapahtuvat yhä lähempänä ja lähempänä. Ja Kayn suhteet sekä rakastettuun että sisarentyttäreen ovat edelleen kaikkea muuta kuin mutkattomat.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - Investigating a case that stretches from steamy Florida to snowbound Boston, Dr. Kay Scarpetta follows clues that twist and turn, leading her into the psychopathic depths of a jailed serial killer's mind. . . . "Sensationally plotted, with a twist at the end that will leave you gasping for breath."--Daily Express (London) "Cornwell brings compulsive murderers] to full, frightening life."--The New York Times Book Review IN DEVELOPMENT AS THE ORIGINAL SERIES SCARPETTA STARRING NICOLE KIDMAN AND JAMIE LEE CURTIS Dr. Kay Scarpetta, now freelancing with the National Forensic Academy in Florida, and her team--Pete Marino, Benton Wesley, and her niece, Lucy--track the odd connections between several horrific crimes and the people who are the likely suspects. In Florida, Scarpetta is investigating the puzzling disappearance four people who have been abducted from their quiet home, leaving their car parked haphazardly in the driveway and a stove burner on low. Then Marino finds something in a nearby house that stops him cold: a woman who has complained of harassment from a citrus canker inspector has been viciously murdered in her bed. As one psychopath, safely behind bars and the subject of a classified scientific study at a Harvard-affiliated psychiatric hospital, teases Scarpetta with tips that could be fact--or fantasy--the number of killers on the loose seems to multiply. Are these events related or merely random? And what can the study of one man's brain tell them about the methods of a psychopath still lurking in the shadows?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - More than twenty years into her career, Kay Scarpetta is confronted with a case that could ruin her professionally--and personally . . . "Cornwell remains the master of incorporating real-life science into pulse-pounding fiction."--The Philadelphia Inquirer IN DEVELOPMENT AS THE ORIGINAL SERIES SCARPETTA STARRING NICOLE KIDMAN AND JAMIE LEE CURTIS Kay Scarpetta's secret military ties have drawn her to Dover Air Force Base and Port Mortuary, where she's performing autopsies on fallen soldiers. But her new headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts--the Cambridge Forensic Center--is the first civilian facility in the U. S. to do virtual autopsies, and it is there that she encounters a devastating event. A young man has died, apparently from a cardiac arrhythmia, eerily close to Scarpetta's new Cambridge home. But when his body is examined the next morning, there are stunning indications that he may have been alive when he was zipped inside a pouch and locked inside the Center's cooler. Various 3-D radiology scans reveal more shocking details about internal injuries unlike any Scarpetta has ever seen--details that suggest the possibility of a conspiracy to cause mass casualties. With Benton, Marino, and Lucy at her side, Scarpetta must fight a cunning, cruel--and invisible--enemy in a race against time. . . .

Told for the first time in many years from the perspective of Kay Scarpetta herself - and unveiling secrets from her past that have never been revealed

THE BODY FARM:Black Mountain, North Carolina: a sleepy little town where the local police deal with one homicide a year, if they're unlucky. The discovery of the corpse of an eleven-year-old girl sends shockwaves through the community. Dr Kay Scarpetta, working on a similar case in Virginia, is called in, but the investigation baffles her - until she visits the curious pathologists' playground known as the Body Farm . . . FROM POTTER'S FIELD:The body is found propped against a fountain in a bleak area of New York's Central Park. The unknown female's death points to a chillingly familiar modus operandi - it appears that Temple Brooks Gault, Scarpetta's nemesis, is back at work. Summoning all her reserves of courage and skill, Scarpetta must track this most dangerous of killers, leading inexorably to an electrifying climax amid the dark, menacing labyrinths of the New York subway.

The second novel in the best-selling Dr Kay Scarpetta series