Flesh and Blood (Kay Scarpetta Series #22)

by Patricia Cornwell

Overview

In this 22nd Kay Scarpetta novel, she is in pursuit of a serial sniper who leaves no evidence except fragments of copper. The fatal shots seem impossible to achieve, the victims appear to have nothing in common, and there is no indication where the killer will strike next. Scarpetta tracks the sniper across several states to the coast, where she dives a shipwreck and finds shocking news that implicates her niece, Lucy, Scarpetta's very own flesh and blood.

With bravura storytelling and forensic details that are her hallmarks, Patricia Cornwell again raises the bar with this highly entertaining new tale, her most captivating Scarpetta novel yet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062325372
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/11/2014
Series:	Kay Scarpetta Series
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	576
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Patricia Cornwell is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Kay Scarpetta series. Her bestsellers include Dust, The Bone Bed, Red Mist, and Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper-Case Closed. Her earlier works include Postmortem—the only novel to win five major crime awards in a single year—and Cruel and Unusual, which won Britain’s prestigious Gold Dagger Award for the best crime novel. Dr. Kay Scarpetta was awarded the 1999 Sherlock Award for the best detective created by an American author. Patricia Cornwell lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Web: patriciacornwell.com

Facebook: patricia.cornwell

Twitter: @1pcornwell

Hometown:

Boston, MA and New York, NY

Date of Birth:

June 9, 1956

Place of Birth:

Miami, Florida

Education:

B.A. in English, Davidson College, 1979; King College

Website:

http://www.patriciacornwell.com

Editorial Reviews

This is in many ways the best of the recent Scarpetta novels, boasting an involving story and some fine writing. Kay has finally found her voice as a first-person narrator. . . . Readers will give this one an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Booklist

09/29/2014
Bestseller Cornwell’s thrilling 22nd novel featuring Dr. Kay Scarpetta (after 2013’s Dust) pits the chief medical examiner against a threat uncomfortably close to home. On the eve of a Florida birthday trip with her FBI agent husband, Benton Wesley, Det. Pete Marino calls Scarpetta to the scene of a fatal shooting in Cambridge, Mass., with all the hallmarks of a sniper attack. Even worse are the alarming similarities between the victim, music teacher Jamal Nari—recently erroneously classified as a terrorist—and two shooting deaths in New Jersey. Not only is the killer an ace shot, but even handcrafts the bullets. Scarpetta knows the signature copper bullets are somehow connected to an odd discovery outside her and Wesley’s home: seven shiny pennies, all from 1981. Soon the hunt is on, stretching from the tonier streets of Cambridge to the murky waters off the coast of Florida. Series fans may be pleasantly shocked by the return of a once-vanquished nemesis. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Thrilling . . . pits the chief medical examiner against a threat uncomfortably close to home.” — Publishers Weekly

“This is in many ways the best of the recent Scarpetta novels, boasting an involving story and some fine writing. Kay has finally found her voice as a first-person narrator. . . . Readers will give this one an enthusiastic thumbs up.” — Booklist

“Everyone knows Scarpetta; she has the wit, intelligence, and strength that any forensic sleuth should own. This never-stop action plot is yet another gift to readers from Patricia Cornwell-a literary artist that is never going to stop writing some of the best and most memorable thrillers out there.” — Suspense Magazine

“Dr. Kay Scarpetta… [is] an awesome force in the field of forensic science.” — New York Times Book Review

“In her twenty-second Scarpetta novel, Cornwell’s forensic knowhow is still at the cutting edge - even though Scarpetta was the prototype for most of TV’s crack forensic investigators today - and her final scenes are both logical and shocking.” — BBC (UK)

“From its opening pages, Flesh and Blood offers an adrenaline-fueled yet cerebral chase for a serial-killer that opens Scarpetta and her entourage to mortal danger. . . . Another chilling, delicious ride.” — Chapter 16

“Absorbing.” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Readers should be both thrilled and jolted…” — CT Post

“Cornwell is still the ace of forensic science mysteries. Dr. Kay Scarpetta and her family and friends just keep growing as characters, and Cornwell’s plots are still taut and tangled. . . . With Flesh and Blood, Cornwell is at the top of her game.” — RT Book Reviews

“What [Cornwell and Scarpetta] continue to have crucially in common . . . is an unslacking commitment to doing their jobs right-getting to the bottom of things, in Scarpetta’s case; providing complexity and depth and suspense and thrills, in Cornwell’s. I should warn you that there’s a cliffhanger ending.” — Sullivan County Democrat

From the Publisher

Readers should be both thrilled and jolted…

CT Post

This is in many ways the best of the recent Scarpetta novels, boasting an involving story and some fine writing. Kay has finally found her voice as a first-person narrator. . . . Readers will give this one an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Booklist

Dr. Kay Scarpetta… [is] an awesome force in the field of forensic science.

New York Times Book Review

What [Cornwell and Scarpetta] continue to have crucially in common . . . is an unslacking commitment to doing their jobs right-getting to the bottom of things, in Scarpetta’s case; providing complexity and depth and suspense and thrills, in Cornwell’s. I should warn you that there’s a cliffhanger ending.

Sullivan County Democrat

Everyone knows Scarpetta; she has the wit, intelligence, and strength that any forensic sleuth should own. This never-stop action plot is yet another gift to readers from Patricia Cornwell-a literary artist that is never going to stop writing some of the best and most memorable thrillers out there.

Suspense Magazine

In her twenty-second Scarpetta novel, Cornwell’s forensic knowhow is still at the cutting edge - even though Scarpetta was the prototype for most of TV’s crack forensic investigators today - and her final scenes are both logical and shocking.

BBC (UK)

Absorbing.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Cornwell is still the ace of forensic science mysteries. Dr. Kay Scarpetta and her family and friends just keep growing as characters, and Cornwell’s plots are still taut and tangled. . . . With Flesh and Blood, Cornwell is at the top of her game.

RT Book Reviews

From its opening pages, Flesh and Blood offers an adrenaline-fueled yet cerebral chase for a serial-killer that opens Scarpetta and her entourage to mortal danger. . . . Another chilling, delicious ride.

Chapter 16

★ 11/15/2014
In Cornwell's 22nd Kay Scarpetta thriller (after Dust), Kay and her FBI profiler husband, Benton Wesley, ready themselves to leave for a much-needed vacation. But a curious discovery on her garden rocks—seven shiny pennies that date from 1981—and the flashing of a small reflective light from the distant trees put their getaway plans on hold when Det. Pete Marino calls to tell her that a long-distance sniper had targeted a music teacher, one of several victims who appear to have nothing in common. Kay is still adjusting to Marino now working for the "other" side on the police force, rather than for her as an investigator. Another unsettling fact for Kay is that her niece, Lucy, is an expert markswoman. Is someone trying to frame Lucy? The ending is unseen and unexpected—and terrifying. VERDICT Deduction is the key to solving this mystery, and Scarpetta fans will relish this nail-biting novel, Cornwell's debut with publisher Morrow. [See Prepub Alert, 5/12/14; turn to p. 80 for a profile of Cornwell.—Ed.]—Susan Carr, Edwardsville P.L., IL

Library Journal

Lorelei King deftly navigates the serpentine plotting in Cornwell’s 22nd Scarpetta novel. First, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner for Massachusetts, receives an unsettling email. Then, carefully arranged on her garden wall, she finds seven shiny copper pennies, all dated 1981. Minutes later, she’s called to a murder scene. Scarpetta and longtime colleague Detective Pete Marino are on the trail of “Copperhead,” a serial sniper. King keeps the action humming. She carefully develops character and atmosphere while dealing with political unrest, extremists, terrorism, and murders—old and new. She brings warmth to the usually cool Scarpetta, especially those moments with her husband, F.B.I. profiler Benton Wesley, and during her childhood reminiscences. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2015 - AudioFile