Blow Fly: A Scarpetta Novel

"Patricia Cornwell has created a character so real, so compelling, so driven that this reader has to remind herself that Scarpetta is just a product of an author's imagination," wrote USA Today about The Last Precinct. "Followers of Cornwell's blockbuster series will be exhilarated by the author's ability to delve deeply into the minds and motives of her characters. The plotting is substantial and stands up book after book. No one depicts the human capacity for evil better than she." The golden touch that has marked Patricia Cornwell's latest run of number-one bestsellers — from the headline-making Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper — Case Closed to The Last Precinct to Isle of Dogs — continues with this arresting new novel featuring Kay Scarpetta, one of thriller fiction's most charismatic and passionate characters.

In Blow Fly, Scarpetta stands at the threshold of a new life after her work as Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner has come to a jarring end. At the close of The Last Precinct, she knew she would have to leave Richmond if she were to find any peace. She feared that she was about to be fired by the governor. More alarming, she was hounded in the media and in the courtroom, for what some claimed was her involvement in the murder of a deputy police chief. So Scarpetta packed up her belongings and set out for the warmth and solace of the Florida sun.

She is settling into a new life as a private forensic consultant and is deep into a case that has left colleagues in Louisiana profoundly disturbed. A woman is found dead in a seedy hotel, dressed to go out, keys in her hand. Her history of blackouts, and her violent outbursts while under their spell, offer more questions than clues about the cause of her death. Then Scarpetta receives news that chills her to the core: Jean-Baptiste Chandonne — the vicious and unrepentant Wolfman, who pursued her to her very doorstep — asks to see her. From his cell on death row, he demands an audience with the legendary Dr. Scarpetta. Only to her will he tell the secrets he knows the authorities desire: the evidence that will bring a global investigation to a swift conclusion. Scarpetta, her niece Lucy, and her colleague Detective Pete Marino are left to wonder: After all the death and destruction, what sort of endgame could this violent psychopath have in mind? And could this request be somehow related to the Louisiana case?

Her friends and family by her side, Scarpetta must unravel a twisting conspiracy with an international reach and confront the shock of her life — a blow that will force her to question the loyalty and trust of all she holds dear.

With her knowledge of state-of-the-art forensics and investigative techniques that have made her America's most alluring crime writer, Patricia Cornwell once again brings to life a world both frightening and irresistibly compelling. Blow Fly is Scarpetta's — and Cornwell's — most unforgettable journey yet.

"Cornwell never provides any of the unblinking set pieces that have made her so widely imitated. A more serious problem is that the perils feel recycled, shapeless, and so soaked in evil that they're headed nowhere in particular..." Kirkus Reviews

"[T]oo much of this book is bound up in retrospective musings about events in previous books. The great Scarpetta, her fiery crime-busting niece, Lucy, and a colorful supporting cast deserve better." Publishers Weekly

"[A] murky stew...with action careening in way too many directions. Oh, for a return to the [old] Scarpetta, who, at center stage, used her intellect and forensic training to solve a more straightforward mystery." Stephanie Zvirin, Booklist

Dr. Kay Scarpetta has left Virginia in quest of peace but instead finds herself drawn into baffling, horrific murders in Florida. There she becomes entangled in an international conspiracy that confronts her with the shock of her life.

The world's number-one-bestselling crime writer is back with another scorching thriller featuring medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta.

Dr. Kay Scarpetta has left Virginia in quest of peace but instead finds herself drawn into baffling, horrific murders in Florida. There she becomes entangled in an international conspiracy that confronts her with the shock of her life.

Patricia Cornwell's most recent number-one bestsellers include Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper — Case Closed, The Last Precinct, and Isle of Dogs. Her earlier work includes Postmortem — the only novel to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity awards and the French Prix du Roman d'Aventure in a single year — and Cruel and Unusual, which won Britain's prestigious Gold Dagger Award for the year's best crime novel of 1993. Her fictional chief medical examiner, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, won the 1999 Sherlock Award for best detective created by an American author. Cornwell helped establish the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine, the first forensic training facility of its kind in the nation, and serves as the Institute's Chairman of the Board.