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When Dr. Kay Scarpetta and Police Lieutenant Pete Marino find the brutally wounded body of a 13-year-old boy carefully propped against a dumpster, and the only fingerprint that of an already executed criminal, their investigation takes a "cruel and unusual" turn. An 11-week NYT hardcover bestseller. Cornwell's previous novels All That Remains, Body of Evidence, and Postmortem have over 3 million copies in print.
— People
"Ingenious...a first-rate storyteller."
— Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Engrossing...an extremely effective novel of suspense, in all its varieties...Corwell's sleuth is the best in the business."
— Entertainment Weekly
"Classic Cornwell...chilling...riveting...utterly convincing."
— Richmond Times-Dispatch
“It’s important for me to live in the world I want to write about,” says Patricia Cornwell, “If I want a character to do or know something, I try to do or know the same thing.” The award-winning former police reporter spent time working both as an employee of the Virginia Chief Medical Examiner’s Office and as a volunteer police officer before she wrote her first Kay Scarpetta novel, Postmortem. Her preparation paid off—Postmortem was the first novel ever to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, Macavity, and French Prix du Roman d’Aventure awards in one year. She has followed that up with ten other bestselling novels featuring Kay Scarpetta. She then began a new series with her #1 New York Times bestsellers Hornet’s Nest and Southern Cross. She is also the author of two cookbooks, Scarpetta’s Winter Table and Food to Die For; A Time for Remembering, a biography of Ruth Bell Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham; a children’s book, Life’s Little Fable; and her #1 bestselling work of nonfiction, Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper—Case Closed. She lives in New York City.
Before becoming one of the most widely recognized, respected, and read writers in contemporary crime fiction, she worked as a police reporter for The Charlotte Observer and as a computer analyst in the chief medical examiner's office in Virginia. During this period of her life, Cornwell observed literally hundreds of autopsies. While the vast majority of people would surely regard such work unsavory beyond belief, Cornwell was acquiring valuable information that would not only help her write the groundbreaking 2002 study Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper -- Case Closed but would also enrich her fiction with uncommon authenticity.
"Most of these crime scene shows... are what I call ‘Harry Potter' policing," she said in a candid, heated interview. "They're absolutely fantasy. And the problem is the general public watches these, 60 million people a week or whatever, and they think what they're seeing is true." If Cornwell comes off as a bit vehement in her criticism of television shows meant to simply entertain, that's just because she takes her work so seriously.
Not that Cornwell's novels are ever anything short of entertaining, even if their grisly details may require extra-strong stomachs of her readers. She has created a tremendously well-defined and complex character in her favorite fictional crime solver Dr. Kay Scarpetta. Cornwell introduced medical examiner Scarpetta in her first novel, Postmortem in 1990. Today, Scarpetta is still cracking cases and cracking open cadavers. (She has even inspired a cook book called Food to Die For: Secrets from Kay Scarpetta's Kitchen.) In addition, Cornwell writes more lighthearted cop capers in her Andy Brazil & Judy Hammer series.
Cornwell may be a former crime solver, but she shudders to think that her books could actually contribute to crime. In fact, she says she has received "thank you" notes from prisoners who claim they have gleaned information from her books that might help them cover their tracks while committing future crimes.
If parody is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, then Cornwell has a fan in Chris Elliott. The professional wisenheimer published a hilarious takeoff on her true crime book Portrait of a Killer called The Shroud of the Thwacker.
The Monday I carried Ronnie Joe Waddell's meditation in my pocketbook, I never saw the sun. It was dark out when I drove to work that morning. It was dark again when I drove home. Small raindrops spun in my headlights, the night gloomy with fog and bitterly cold.
I built a fire in my living room and envisioned Virginia farmland and tomatoes ripening in the sun. I imagined a young black man in the hot cab of a pickup truck and wondered if his head had been full of murder back then. Waddell's meditation had been published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch and I had taken the clipping to work to add to his growing file. But the business of the day distracted me and his meditation had remained in my pocketbook. I had read it several times. I supposed it would always intrigue me that poetry and cruelty could reside in the same heart.
For the next few hours I paid bills and wrote Christmas cards while the television played mutely. Like the rest of Virginia's citizens, whenever an execution was scheduled I found out from the media whether all appeals had been exhausted or the governor had granted clemency. The news determined whether I went on to bed or drove downtown to the morgue.
At almost ten P.M. my telephone rang. I answered it expecting my deputy chief or some other member of my staff whose evening, like mine, was on hold.
"Hello?" asked a male voice I did not recognize. "I'm trying to reach Kay Scarpetta? Uh, the chief medical examiner, Dr. Scarpetta?"
"Speaking," I said.
"Oh, good. Detective Joe Trent with Henrico County. Found your number in the book. Sorry to bother you at home." He sounded keyed up."But we've got a situation we really need your help with."
"What's the problem?" I asked, staring tensely at the TV. A commercial was playing. I hoped I wasn't needed at a scene.
"Earlier this evening, a thirteen-year-old white male was abducted after leaving a convenience store on Northside. He was shot in the head and there may be some sexual components involved."
My heart sank as I reached for paper and pen. "Where is the body?" I asked.
"He was found behind a grocery store on Patterson Avenue in the county. I mean, he's not dead. He hasn't regained consciousness but no one's saying right now whether he'll make it. I realize it's not your case since he's not dead. But he's got some injuries that are real odd. They're not like anything I've ever come across. I know you see a lot of different types of injuries. I'm hoping you might have some idea how these were inflicted and why."
"Describe them for me," I said.
"We're talking about two areas. One on his inner right thigh, you know, up high near the groin. The other's in the area of his right shoulder. Chunks of flesh are missing ' cut out. And there's weird cuts and scratches around the edges of the wounds. He's at Henrico Doctor's."
"Did you find the excised tissue?" My mind was racing through other cases, looking for something similar.
"Not so far. We've got men out there still searching. But it's possible the assault occurred inside a car."
"Whose car?"
"The assailant's. The grocery store parking lot where the kid was found is a good three or four miles from the convenience store where he was last seen. I'm thinking he got into somebody's car, maybe was forced to."
"You got photographs of the injuries before the doctors started working on him?"
"Yes. But they haven't done much. Because of the amount of skin missing, they'll have to do skin grafts ? full grafts, is what they said, if that tells you anything."
It told me they had debrided the wounds, had him on intravenous antibiotics, and were waiting to do a gluteal graft. If, however, that was not the case and they had undermined the tissue around the injuries and sutured them, then there wasn't going to be much left for me to see.
"They haven't sutured his wounds," I said.
"That's what I've been told."
"Do you want me to take a look?"
"That would be really great," he said, relieved. "You should be able to see the wounds real well."
"When would you like me to do this?"
"Tomorrow would work."
"All right. What time? The earlier the better."
"Eight hundred hours? I'll meet you in front of the ER."
"I'll be there," I said as the anchorman stared grimly at me. Hanging up, I reached for the remote control and turned up the sound.
"...Eugenia? Can you tell us if there's been any word from the governor?"
The camera shifted to the Virginia State Penitentiary, where for two hundred years the Commonwealth's worst criminals had been warehoused along a rocky stretch of the James River at the edge of downtown. Sign-carrying protesters and capital punishment enthusiasts gathered in the dark, their faces harsh in the glare of television lights. It chilled my soul that some people were laughing. A pretty, young correspondent in a red coat filled the screen.
"As you know, Bill," she said, "yesterday a telephone line was set up between Governor Norring's office and the penitentiary. Still no word, and that speaks volumes. Historically, when the governor doesn't intend to intervene, he remains silent."
"How are things there? Is it relatively peaceful so far?"
"So far, yes, Bill. I'd say several hundred people are standing vigil out here. And of course, the penitentiary itself is almost empty. All but several dozen of the inmates have already been transported to the new correctional facility in Greensville."
** spoiler alert ** I am currently reading the entire Scarpetta series in order, and I have to say that this is my favorite so far. There were so many twists and turns in this book that really kept me thinking. I really enjoyed that part of it. There were a couple disappointments in this book. First, I hate that Dr. Scarpetta's lover, Mark, had been killed somewhere in between the last book and this one. Although this is a crime/murder book, I enjoyed the brief moments of romance. Second, although they knew who the killer was in the end and the case was basically solved, the killer was not actually found and is still at large in the end. With all the twists and turns and things that transpired in the book (corruption within the justice system, specifically in the ME's office), the ending did complete the story for me. They got to the bottom of who was involved and why things happened. I suppose that to chase the killer at that point would just be extra pages of writing that was not really suspenseful anymore. After reading the first three books in this series, I was just surprised that the killer was not found or killed in the end. Cornwell took a different path than in her first three books. Overall, this is an excellent book. I really enjoy Patricia Cornwell. I love how scientifically accurate she is. With an understanding of anatomy, physiology, and chemistry, Patricial Cornwell writes at a higher level that keeps me interested. Her books don't just appeal to an elementary level. Yet, I think that she explains things well enough that a person without a scientific background would understand the tests and findings presented in the book.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 15, 2011
I love Patricia Cornwell because I am never able to figure out "who dun-it" before the end of the book! This book in particular had enough twists and turns to keep me from putting the book down!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 30, 2009
Great book and great characters, as all Patricia Cornwell's books are.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 4, 2005
There¿s a serial killer loose in Richmond, but there is a problem with the main suspect. He was executed before the murders¿ or was he? This is what Kay Scarpetta is up against in Patricia Cornwell¿s novel, Cruel and Unusual. It¿s a typical mystery story, except it¿s infused with new, fresh ideas and complex characters. I am usually a slow reader, forcing myself to al least do a chapter every day or so, but the suspense in this novel was so great that I could neither sleep nor eat until I knew the resolution. I finished the book in a matter of hours. Cornwell¿s book is blunt and grotesque in some parts, but invigorating nonetheless. The ending was surprising and creative, but also rather troubling. If you think you have the stomach for it, Cruel and Unusual is a good read. I would not, however, recommend it to children, insomniacs or people who live alone.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 5, 2003
This was my 1st P.Cornwell book. I read half the book and it was too boring to finish. Maybe Postmortem and Body of Evidence is better.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 7, 2002
This is the 4th one that I've read of the series, this one was the worst yet. I'm sorry but it just couldn't keep my interest and I had to force myself to finish this book!!! What a Stupid Story, I hope the Body Farm is good.
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 22, 2000
Patricia Cornwell has an amazing talent for bringing Dr. Kay Scarpetta into life. I have read almost all of her books and have loved all of them. She ties characters together in such a fashion that we remember and love them. It is exciting to watch the relationships change and grow in each story. I recommend this and all her other books to be read. BEWARE...you may become determined to read all of her books no matter how early you have to get up the next morning.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 29, 2013
Continues part of story line from book 3 which now continues in book 5. You would benefit from reading them in order.
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Posted May 23, 2009
I loved the originality of this book. Defiently one of my favorites in the Scarpetta series.
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Posted February 25, 2009
I Also Recommend:
Iknew this book would be a good one to rread and would not be able to put down. I love all of Kay Scarpetta's novels. Ms. Cornwell you do such a great job in writing your book's. I hope you write forever and never get tired of doing it. I sure don't get tired of reading your book's.
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Posted November 1, 2008
I thought this book kept its intensity through the entire story. Will be moving on to next book in the series!!
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Posted November 28, 2007
Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell. Is the best series I have read, I would read one, and couldn't wait to start the next one. I just had one problem the Titles they are not in order, had to go on line to find out what book was next, because the inside Titles does not go from top to bottom kind of confusing for me.
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Posted December 4, 2006
I read this book for english, thinking that I would just read a chapter or two and go online and find out the facts but I couldn't. I had a two week deadline and read it in one night. It was great, suspensful, and an excellent idea for a book. I love they way she put crime, mystery, and law all into one book. IT WAS EXCELLENT!
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Posted February 14, 2006
Through out my reading, I simply couldn't stop!!!! I was always left to pounder, when I did. There was never a dull moment. I had never read a novel by Patricia and now I will always want to for school projects.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Henrico County, Virginia Detective Joe Trent calls the state Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta because of a situation involving thirteen year old Eddie Heath shot in the head with potential sexual components involved. At the same time the Commonwealth executes Ronnie Joe Waddell convicted of the murder of anchorwoman Robyn Naismith ten years earlier on evidence founded by Scarpetta. --- Scarpetta¿s autopsy of Heath uncovers the fingerprint of Waddell on the corpse. As anti capital punishment lawyer Grueman turns up the heat with the media claiming Scarpetta is incompetent, files are stolen from her office. More murders that apparently were committed by a dead Waddell lead Grueman orchestrating the press even further that perhaps the smoking gun of capital punishment has occurred, an innocent person executed. Other evidence against Scarpetta leads to a grand jury investigation into the possible criminal activities of the medical examiner. --- CRUEL AND UNUSUAL is a solid Scarpetta police procedural in which the beleaguered heroine is struggling to understand how a dead man could be murdering people and what happened to her once thriving career. The story line is filled with twists and turns that makes sense afterward but will surprise the reader while the grand jury inquiry is insightful and a bit shocking for instance the ¿defense¿ cannot bring in witnesses. Patricia Cornwell provides a strong Scarpetta thriller with the star in jeopardy of more than just her livelihood going down the tubes. --- Harriet Klausner
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 15, 2005
If you liked the 'Silence of the Lambs' you will love this book. The 4th installment in the series and an award winner.
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Posted June 28, 2004
I couldn't get enough of this book. Kay Scarpetta once again proves why she is crime fiction's most incredible protagonist, and Cornwell proves why she's crime fiction's reigning queen. Nobody does it better. This book is a fascinating look into the criminal justice system, capital punishment, and the ever-advancing field of forensics. You must read this book! Utterly chilling!
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Posted July 23, 2004
The story was interesting and the plot had great twists and turns, but I found myself skipping full paragraphs written in computer language. I'm computer literate, but I don't write computer programs, so I was completely lost at some points. But overall it was a good book.
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Posted September 28, 2002
Keep them coming! I love every Kay Scarpetta story and just can't wait for another! This is a great book!
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Posted September 24, 2002
I can't get enough of the stories with Kay Scarpetta....keep them coming!
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