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About The Book

Discover the “dazzling...fascinating” (Los Angeles Times) novel that launched the popular Kay Scarpetta series, from the New York Times #1 bestselling crime writer Patricia Cornwell.

Patricia Cornwell’s debut novel Postmortem introduces one of crime fiction’s most compelling characters: gutsy medical examiner Kay Scarpetta. Cornwell’s gift for combining cutting-edge criminology with nerve-shattering suspense makes this book a true modern classic.

Under cover of night in Richmond, Virginia, a monster strikes, leaving a gruesome trail of stranglings that has paralyzed the city. Kay Scarpetta suspects the worst: a deliberate campaign by a brilliant serial killer whose signature offers precious few clues. With an unerring eye, she calls on the latest advances in forensic research to unmask the madman. But this investigation will test Kay like no other, because it’s being sabotaged from within—and someone wants her dead.

About The Author

Photography by Patrick Ecclesine

Patricia Cornwell is recognized as one of the world’s top bestselling crime authors with novels translated into thirty-six languages in more than 120 countries. Her novels have won numerous prestigious awards including the Edgar, the Creasey, the Anthony, the Macavity, and the Prix du Roman d’Aventure. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Cornwell has written a definitive book about Jack the Ripper, a biography, and two more fiction series among others. Cornwell, a licensed helicopter pilot and scuba diver, actively researches the cutting-edge forensic technologies that inform her work. She was born in Miami, grew up in Montreat, NC, and now lives and works in Boston. Find out more at PatriciaCornwell.com, at Facebook.com/Patricia.Cornwell, on Twitter: @1pcornwell, and on Instagram: @1pcornwell.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Scribner (December 1, 2009)
  • Length: 352 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781439187517

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