Patricia Cornwell Kay Scarpetta Series Books In Order

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Kay Scarpetta Books In Order

The Kay Scarpetta series is one of the first crime fiction series to feature a strong female protagonist involved in forensic science. Scarpetta is a hard-working medical examiner in Richmond, Virginia, inspired by former Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Marcella Farinelli Fierro, MD. She is depicted as a perfectionist who loves cooking Italian food. There are a number of recurring characters in the series, and Scarpetta has several love interests throughout.

Patricia Cornwell brings gritty, realistic descriptions of violent crimes, alongside complex characters and plenty of suspense. Most books are told from Scarpetta’s first-person perspective. The point of view in the books shifts around The Last Precinct (Book 11) and returns to Scarpetta’s perspective in Port Mortuary (Book 18).

While many readers love the early books in the series for their good character development, interesting plots, and fascinating forensic details, they find the later books less engaging and realistic.

Readers recommend beginning the series from the start for a proper introduction to Kay Scarpetta and the supporting characters, and because they prefer the earlier stories. Each book contains a self-contained story, although there are several continuing plotlines in this long-running series.

1. Postmortem

Under cover of night in Richmond, Virginia, a monster strikes, leaving a gruesome trail of stranglings that has paralyzed the city. Medical examiner Kay Scarpetta suspects the worst: a deliberate campaign by a brilliant serial killer whose signature offers precious few clues.

2. Body of Evidence

A reclusive author, Beryl Madison finds no safe haven from months of menacing phone calls—or the tormented feeling that her every move is being watched. When the writer is found slain in her own home, Kay Scarpetta pieces together the intricate forensic evidence

3. All That Remains

In Richmond, Virginia, young lovers are dying. So far, four couples in the area have disappeared, only to be found months later as mutilated corpses. When the daughter of the president’s newest drug czar vanishes along with her boyfriend, Dr. Kay Scarpetta knows time is short.

4. Cruel and Unusual

“Killing me won’t kill the beast” are the last words of rapist-murderer Ronnie Joe Waddell, written four days before his execution. But they can’t explain how medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta finds Waddell’s fingerprints on another crime scene

5. The Body Farm

Little Emily Steiner left a church meeting late one afternoon and strolled toward home along a lakeside path; a week later, her nude body was discovered, bound in blaze-orange duct tape. Called by the North Carolina authorities, forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta recognizes similarities

6. From Potter’s Field

An unidentified nude female sits propped against a fountain in Central Park. There are no signs of struggle. When Dr. Kay Scarpetta and her colleagues Benton Wesley and Pete Marino arrive on the scene, they instantly recognize the signature of serial killer Temple Brooks Gault.

7. Cause of Death

On a quiet day, away from the hustle of Richmond, in a small cottage on the Virginia coast, Dr. Kay Scarpetta receives a disturbing phone call from the Chesapeake police. Thirty feet deep in the murky waters of Virginia’s Elizabeth River, a scuba diver’s body is discovered

8. Unnatural Exposure

Dr. Kay Scarpetta becomes both investigator and victim when she is contacted over the Internet by a murderer who is threatening to loose a deadly virus on the world.

9. Point of Origin

Kay Scarpetta finds herself pitted against a possible bioterrorist

10. Black Notice

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is on a deadly mission that will pull her in two opposite directions: toward protecting her career or toward the truth…

11. The Last Precinct

Thwarting an attack by a suspected serial killer puts Virginia’s Chief Medial Examiner Kay Scarpetta in the harsh glare of the spotlight.

12. Blow Fly

A cold case turns red-hot when a death-row inmate renews his acquaintance with Dr. Kay Scarpetta

13. Trace

Dr. Kay Scarpetta, now freelancing from south Florida, returns to the city that turned its back on her five years ago.

14. Predator

Investigating the disappearance of two sisters in Florida, Dr. Kay Scarpetta follows clues that twist and turn, leading her into the psychopathic depths of a jailed serial killer’s mind.

15. Book of the Dead

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is starting over with a unique private forensic pathology practice in Charleston, South Carolina. But her fresh start ushers in a string of murders more baffling—and terrifying—than any that have come before…

16. Scarpetta

Leaving behind her private forensic pathology practice in Charleston, South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta accepts an assignment in New York City, where the NYPD has asked her to examine an injured man on Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric prison ward

17. The Scarpetta Factor

In this provocative thriller, forensic expert Kay Scarpetta is surrounded by familiar faces, yet traveling down the unfamiliar road of fame….

18. Port Mortuary

Kay Scarpetta is confronted with a case that could ruin her professionally and personally.

19. Red Mist

Scarpetta drives to the Georgia Prison for Women to meet a convicted sex offender and the mother of a vicious and diabolically brilliant killer.

20. The Bone Bed

Receiving a grisly communication in the wake of an eminent Canadian paleontologist’s disappearance, Kay Scarpetta investigates the discovery of a body in Boston Harbor and clues about other unsolved cases, a situation that makes Scarpetta wonder who she can trust.

21. Dust

A body, oddly draped in an unusual cloth, has just been discovered inside the sheltered gates of MIT, and it’s suspected the identity is that of missing computer engineering grad student Gail Shipton

22. Flesh and Blood

Patricia Cornwell delivers the next enthralling thriller in her high-stakes series starring Kay Scarpetta—a complex tale involving a serial sniper who strikes chillingly close to the forensic sleuth herself.

23. Depraved Heart

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is working a suspicious death scene in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when an emergency alert sounds on her phone. A video link lands in her text messages and seems to be from her computer genius niece, Lucy. But how can it be? It’s clearly a surveillance film of Lucy

24. Chaos

In the quiet of twilight, on an early autumn day, twenty-six-year-old Elisa Vandersteel is killed while riding her bicycle along the Charles River. It appears she was struck by lightning

25. Autopsy

In this relaunch of the electrifying, landmark #1 bestselling thriller series, chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta hunts those responsible for two wildly divergent and chilling murders.

26. Livid

Chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta finds herself a reluctant star witness in a sensational televised murder trial causing chaos in Old Town Alexandria with the threat of violent protests.

27. Unnatural Death

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

28. Identity Unknown

Autopsies can reveal the secrets of the dead. And this victim is sending Scarpetta a message…

29. Sharp Force

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