Cornwell, Patricia

Patricia Cornwell (born Patricia Carroll Daniels; June 9, 1956) is a contemporary American crime writer. She is widely known for writing a popular series of novels featuring the heroine Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner. Her books have sold more than 100 million copies. In 1979, Cornwell started working as a reporter for The Charlotte Observer, first editing TV listings, then working in features, and finally becoming a reporter covering crime. In 1980, she received Investigative Reporting Award for a series on prostitution from theNorth Carolina Press Association. She continued to work at the newsapaper until 1981, when she moved to Richmond, Virginia with her husband, David Cornwell (married in 1980), who enrolled at the Union Theological Seminary. The same year she began working on the biography of Ruth Bell Graham, A Time for Remembering: The Ruth Bell Graham Story (renamed Ruth, A Portrait: The Story of Ruth Bell Graham in subsequent editions), which was published in 1983. The biography earned her a Gold Medallion Book Awardfrom the Evangelic Christian Publishers Association in 1985. It also, however, was a major blow to her friendship with Graham- they weren't on speaking terms for 8 years following the book's publication.

1984 was a significant year for Cornwell- she began work on her first novel, about a male detective named Joe Constable and met Dr. Marcella Farinelli Fierro, a medical examiner in Richmond, and subsequent inspiration for the character of Dr. Kay Scarpetta. In 1985, she took a job at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia. She worked there for six years, first as a technical writer and then as a computer analyst. She also volunteered to work with the Richmond Police Department. Cornwell wrote three novels that she says were rejected before the publication, in 1990, of the first installment of her Scarpetta series, Postmortem, based on real-life stranglings in Richmond in the summer of 1987. The novel won her various awards including the British John Creasey Award, the French Prix du Roman d'Adventure and the American Edgar Award.

My Opinion: I read a number of her Dr. Scarpetta stories years ago and remeber them as being interesting. I just picked up and read "Depraved Fear". From page 1 to the end, page 466, I found it impossible to follow and not in the least understandable. Fantasy, perhaps. I will not read another. If you want to try her work,I suggest trying form her 1st effort: Postmortem to determine if you enjoy her work.

Bibliography[edit]

Fiction series[edit]

Kay Scarpetta series:

• 1. Postmortem (1990)

  2. Body of Evidence (1991)

  3. All That Remains (1992)

  4. Cruel and Unusual (1993)

  5. The Body Farm (1994)

  6. From Potter's Field (1995)

  7. Cause of Death (1996)

  8. Unnatural Exposure (1997)

  9. Point of Origin (1998)

  10. Scarpetta's Winter Table (1998)

  11. Black Notice (1999)

  12. The Last Precinct (2000)

  13. Blow Fly (2003)

  14. Trace (2004)

  15. Predator (2005)

  16. Book of the Dead (2007)

  17. Scarpetta (2008)

  18. The Scarpetta Factor (2009)

  19. Port Mortuary (2010)

  20. Red Mist (2011)

  21. The Bone Bed (2012)

  22. Dust (2013)

  23. Flesh and Blood (2014)

1. Depraved Heart (2015) X

   1. Chaos (2016)

Andy Brazil / Judy Hammer series:

• 1. Hornet's Nest (1996)

  2. Southern Cross (1999)

  3. Isle of DoGs (2001)

At Risk / Win Garano series:

• 1. At Risk (2006)

  2. The Front (2008)

To learn more about this writer, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Cornwell