Book Preview ALSO BY PATRICIA CORNWELL SCARPETTA SERIES Red Mist Port Mortuary The Scarpetta Factor Scarpetta Book of the Dead Predator Trace Blow Fly The Last Precinct Black Notice Point of Origin Unnatural Exposure Cause of Death From Potter’s Field The Body Farm Cruel and Unusual All That Remains Body of Evidence Postmortem NONFICTION Portrait … Read more
Book Preview Scarpetta Kay Scarpetta (16) by Patricia Cornwell Chapter 1 Brain tissue clung like wet, gray lint to the sleeves of Dr. Kay Scarpetta’s surgical gown, and the front of it was splashed with blood. Stryker saws whined, running water drummed, and bone dust sifted through the air like flour. Three tables were … Read more
Book Preview Book of the Dead Kay Scarpetta (15) by Patricia Cornwell Rome Water splashing. A gray mosaic tile tub sunk deep into a terracotta floor. Water pours slowly from an old brass spout, and darkness pours through a window. On the other side of old, wavy glass is the piazza, and the … Read more
Book Preview Predator Kay Scarpetta (14) by Patricia Cornwell Chapter 1 It is Sunday afternoon and Dr. Kay Scarpetta is in her office at the National Forensic Academy in Hollywood, Florida, where clouds are building, promising another thunderstorm. It’s not supposed to be this rainy and hot in February. Gunfire pops, and voices … Read more
Book Preview Trace Kay Scarpetta Novel (13) by Patricia Cornwell Chapter 1 Yellow bulldozers hack earth and stone in an old city block that has seen more death than most modern wars, and Kay Scarpetta slows her rental SUV almost to a stop. Shaken by the destruction ahead, she stares at the mustard-colored machines … Read more
Book Preview Blow Fly Kay Scarpetta (12) by Patricia Cornwell Chapter 1 DR. KAY SCARPETTA moves the tiny glass vial close to candlelight, illuminating a maggot drifting in a poisonous bath of ethanol. At a glance, she knows the exact stage of metamorphosis before the creamy carcass, no larger than a grain of rice, … Read more
Book Preview THE COLD DUSK GIVES UP ITS BRUISED COLOR TO complete darkness, and I am grateful that the draperies in my bedroom are heavy enough to absorb even the faintest hint of my silhouette as I move about packing my bags. Life could not be more abnormal than it is right now. “I want … Read more
Book Preview And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. I am sitting on the porch, staring out at Lake Michigan as a sharp wind reminds me I need to cut my hair. I am remembering when we were here last, both of us … Read more
Book Preview BENTON WESLEY WAS taking off his running shoes in my kitchen when I ran to him, my heart tripping over fear and hate and remembered horror. Carrie Grethen’s letter had been mixed in a stack of mail and other paperwork, all of it put off until a moment ago when I had decided … Read more
Book Preview Night fell clean and cold in Dublin, and wind moaned beyond my room as if a million pipes played the air. Gusts shook old windowpanes and sounded like spirits rushing past as I rearranged pillows one more time, finally resting on my back in a snarl of Irish linen. But sleep would not … Read more
Book Preview It is New Year’s Eve, the last day of Virginia’s bloodiest year since the civil war. Dr. Kay Scarpetta plunges into the murky depths of a ship graveyard to recover the very human remains of Ted Eddings, an investigative reporter. What kind of story was Eddings chasing below the icy surface of the … Read more
Book Preview And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. -Genesis 4:10 ‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS He walked with sure steps through snow, which was deep in Central Park, and it was late now, but he was not certain how late. Toward the … Read more
Book Preview Black Mountain, North Carolina: a sleepy little town where the local police deal with one homicide a year, if they’re unlucky, and where people are still getting used to the idea of locking their doors at night. But violent death is no respecter of venue, and the discovery of the corpse of a … Read more
Book Preview Patricia D. Cornwell’s first novel, Postmortem, is the only novel to have won the Edgar, John Creasey, Anthony and MacAvity awards, and the Prix du Roman d’Aventure in one year. Her second and third novels, Body of Evidence and All That Remains, attracted equal critical acclaim and became international bestsellers, establishing the author … Read more
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Book Preview Most afternoons I’m at Louie’s writing on the porch and looking out at the sea. The water is mottled emerald green over the mosaic of sandbars, and aqua as it deepens. The sky goes on forever, clouds white puffs always moving like smoke. A constant breeze washes out the sounds of people swimming … Read more
Book Preview The relentless downpour, which began at dawn, beat the lilies to naked stalks, and blacktop and sidewalks were littered with leaves. There were small rivers in the streets, and newborn ponds on playing fields and lawns. I went to sleep to the sound of water drumming the slate roof, and was dreaming a … Read more
Book Preview COPPER FLASHES LIKE SHARDS of aventurine glass on top of the old brick wall behind our house. I envision ancient pastel stucco workshops with red tile roofs along the Rio dei Vetrai canal, and fiery furnaces and blowpipes as maestros shape molten glass on marvers. Careful not to spill, I carry two espressos … Read more