During the early hours of Christmas morning, chief medical examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta receives a chilling call. The Phantom Slasher has struck again.

The serial killer has terrorized Northern Virginia for months. His pattern is to stalk with a sophisticated technology that enables him to invade his victims’ homes and watch their every move. They wake up to a ghost-like hologram before being murdered in their beds.

Scarpetta is summoned to Mercy Island, the site of a notorious psychiatric hospital where two people have been brutalized, one of them from Scarpetta’s past. It soon becomes apparent that she could be next . . .

‘In Sharp Force Cornwell is at the very top of her game and Scarpetta is as finely wrought as ever. The research is impeccable as always . . . You are in the hands of a master storyteller. Sit back and prepare to be thrilled’ DAVID BALDACCI

‘Iconic. Bold. Brilliant. Identity Unknown is hauntingly original, impossibly clever and devilishly daring. This series is one of the all-time greats’ CHRIS WHITAKER, author of ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK

Summoned to an unnerving, abandoned theme park to retrieve a body, Dr Kay Scarpetta is devastated to learn that the victim is Sal Giordano, an acclaimed astrophysicist – and a man Scarpetta once loved.

The murder scene is bizarre, with a crop circle of petals around the body. Scarpetta’s niece Lucy believes Giordano was dropped from an unidentified flying craft. Scarpetta knows autopsies can reveal the dead’s secrets, but she is shocked to find her friend seems to have deliberately left her a clue.

As the investigators are torn between suspicions of otherworldly forces, and of Giordano himself, Scarpetta detects an explanation closer to home that, in her mind, is far more evil . . .

‘Nerve-jangling . . . A thriller that’s out of this world’ THE TIMES

‘Heart-stopping’ SUNDAY POST

‘Cornwell on vintage form’ FINANCIAL TIMES

‘Iconic. Bold. Brilliant. Identity Unknown is hauntingly original, impossibly clever and devilishly daring. Scalpel-sharp storytelling, trademark twists and characters that feel like family, this series is one of the all-time greats’ CHRIS WHITAKER, author of Sunday Times bestseller All the Colours of the Dark

Summoned to an unnerving, abandoned theme park to retrieve a body, Dr Kay Scarpetta is devastated to learn that the victim is a man she once loved. While teaching in Rome during the early days of her career, Scarpetta had a love affair with acclaimed astrophysicist Sal Giordano that led to a lifelong friendship.

The murder scene is bizarre, with a crop circle of petals around the body, and Giordano’s skin is strangely red. Scarpetta’s niece Lucy believes he was dropped from an unidentified flying craft. Scarpetta knows an autopsy can reveal the dead’s secrets, but she is shocked to find her friend seems to have deliberately left her a clue.

As the investigators are torn between suspicions of otherworldly forces, and of Giordano himself, Scarpetta detects an explanation closer to home that, in her mind, is far more evil . . .

‘One of the best crime writers writing today’ Guardian

‘Thirty years on, there’s still no other crime writer like her’ Sunday Times

‘Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns’ Mirror

‘In a league of her own’ Heat

Two mauled bodies in the woods. Two top secret autopsies. The most chilling case of Scarpetta’s career . . .

Chief medical examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta finds herself in a Northern Virginia wilderness examining the remains of two campers wanted by federal law enforcement.

The victims have been savaged beyond recognition, and other evidence is terrifying and baffling, including a larger-than-life footprint.

After one of the most frightening body retrievals of her career, Scarpetta must discover who would commit murders this brutal, and why.

Kay Scarpetta will return in Identity Unknown – available to order now!

*

‘A sinister mystery from one of the all-time greats of the genre’
SUN

‘A chilling, thrilling, macabre masterpiece. Patricia Cornwell at her mesmerising finest’
CHRIS WHITAKER, author of WE BEGIN AT THE END

‘An edge-of-the-seat mystery, packed with twists’
DAILY MAIL

‘Sinister, surprising and utterly unputdownable. Cornwell at her brilliant best’
M. J. ARLIDGE, author of EYE FOR AN EYE

‘Cornwell really is in a league of her own’
BOOK OF THE WEEK, HEAT

‘Scarpetta is still queen of the autopsy and Cornwell is still queen of crime fiction’
ANDREA MARA, author of NO ONE SAW A THING

‘Cornwell proves once again why she is a crime writer still at the top of her game’
WOMAN’S WEEKLY

Two mauled bodies in the woods. Two top secret autopsies. The most chilling case of Scarpetta’s career . . .

In this thrilling new instalment of the #1 bestselling series, chief medical examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta finds herself in a Northern Virginia wilderness examining the remains of two campers wanted by federal law enforcement.

The victims have been savaged beyond recognition, and other evidence is terrifying and baffling, including a larger-than-life footprint.

After one of the most frightening body retrievals of her career, Scarpetta must discover who would commit murders this brutal, and why.

‘A sinister mystery from one of the all-time greats of the genre’
SUN

‘A chilling, thrilling, macabre masterpiece. Unnatural Death is Patricia Cornwell at her mesmerising finest. The best just got better’
CHRIS WHITAKER, author of WE BEGIN AT THE END

‘An edge-of-the-seat mystery, packed with twists’
DAILY MAIL

‘Sinister, surprising and utterly unputdownable. Cornwell at her brilliant best’
M. J. ARLIDGE, author of EYE FOR AN EYE

‘Cornwell really is in a league of her own’
BOOK OF THE WEEK, HEAT

‘Classic Cornwell with an up-to-the-minute twenty-first-century plot. An intoxicating blend that proves Scarpetta is still queen of the autopsy and Cornwell is still queen of crime fiction’
ANDREA MARA, author of NO ONE SAW A THING

‘Cornwell proves once again why she is a crime writer still at the top of her game’
WOMAN’S WEEKLY

Chief medical examiner Kay Scarpetta is the reluctant star witness in a sensational murder trial when she receives shocking news. The judge’s sister has been found dead. At first glance, it appears to be a home invasion, but then why was nothing stolen, and why is the garden strewn with dead plants and insects?

Although there is no apparent cause of death, Scarpetta recognizes tell-tale signs of the unthinkable, and she knows the worst is yet to come. The forensic pathologist finds herself pitted against a powerful force that returns her to the past, and her time to catch the killer is running out . . .

SCARPETTA WILL RETURN IN UNNATURAL DEATH, COMING SOON

‘RIVETING’ THE TIMES

‘CORNWELL’S ON BLISTERING FORM AND THIS ABSORBING THRILLER WILL KEEP YOU HOOKED’ SUN

‘CORNWELL KNOWS HOW TO CRAFT A MEAN PAGE-TURNER AND LIVID IS NO EXCEPTION’ TELEGRAPH

‘ONE OF THE BEST CRIME WRITERS WRITING TODAY’ GUARDIAN

‘GRIPPING . . . SOUND THE KLAXON, DR KAY SCARPETTA IS BACK’ HEAT

‘SCARPETTA’S 26TH OUTING AND THE PLOTTING REMAINS EVERY BIT AS FRESH AS WHEN WE WERE INTRODUCED TO HER’ BELFAST TELEGRAPH

‘ASTONISHING . . . THIRTY YEARS ON, THERE’S STILL NO OTHER CRIME WRITER LIKE HER’ SUNDAY TIMES