Synopses & Reviews
The new Kay Scarpetta novel from the world's #1 bestselling crime writer.
After working one of the worst mass killings in U.S. history, Scarpetta returns home to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Exhausted and ill, shes recovering at home when she receives an unsettling call.
The body of a young woman has been discovered on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's rugby field. The victim, a graduate student named Gail Shipton, is oddly draped in unusual cloth and posed in a way that is too deliberate to be the killer's first strike. A preliminary examination in the sea of red mud where the body has been left also reveals a bizarre residue that fluoresces blood red, emerald green and sapphire blue.
Physical evidence links the case to a series of uniquely weird homicides in Washington, D.C., where Scarpetta's FBI husband has been deployed to help capture a serial killer dubbed the Capital Murderer.
The cases all connect and yet seem to conflict. Gail Shipton was murdered for financial gainor was she? It will require the usual ensemble of characters to find out the truth, including Scarpetta's sidekick Pete Marino, who has undergone a drastic change in his life that places him center stage in a Cambridge investigation that puts everyone at risk.
Review
“An act of narrative virtuosity even for this author of world-class page-turners.”—
The Toronto Star “Upping the nail-biting suspense factor is the storys breakneck pace.”—The Boston Globe
“Cornwells grasp on her beloved character is as sure as ever.”—Liz Smith
Review
“When it comes to the forensic sciences, nobody can touch Cornwell.”
—The New York Times Book Review
Synopsis
SOON TO BE AN ORIGINAL SERIES STARRING NICOLE KIDMAN AND JAMIE LEE CURTIS
With unparalleled high-tension suspense and the latest in forensic technology, Patricia Cornwell once again proves her exceptional ability to surprise--and to thrill--in this electrifying Kay Scarpetta novel.
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, last seen the night before at a trendy Cambridge bar. It appears she's been murdered, mere weeks before the trial in her $100 million lawsuit against her former financial manager, and Massachusetts Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta doubts it's a coincidence. She also fears the case may have a connection with her computer genius niece, Lucy.
In Dust, Scarpetta and her colleagues are up against a force far more sinister than a sexual predator who fits the criminal classification of a "spectacle killer." The murder of Gail Shipton soon leads deep into the dark world of designer drugs, drone technology, organized crime, and shocking corruption at the highest levels.
Synopsis
With unparalleled high-tension suspense and the latest in forensic technology, Patricia Cornwell once again proves her exceptional ability to surpriseand to thrillin this electrifying Kay Scarpetta novel.
A body, oddly draped in an unusual cloth, has just been discovered inside the sheltered gates of MIT, and its suspected the identity is that of missing computer engineering grad student Gail Shipton, last seen the night before at a trendy Cambridge bar. It appears shes been murdered, mere weeks before the trial in her $100 million lawsuit against her former financial manager, and Massachusetts Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta doubts its a coincidence. She also fears the case may have a connection with her computer genius niece, Lucy.
In Dust, Scarpetta and her colleagues are up against a force far more sinister than a sexual predator who fits the criminal classification of a spectacle killer.” The murder of Gail Shipton soon leads deep into the dark world of designer drugs, drone technology, organized crime, and shocking corruption at the highest levels.
About the Author
Patricia Cornwell is one of the worlds major internationally bestselling authors, translated into thirty-six languages in more than 120 countries. She is a founder of the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine; a founding member of the National Forensic Academy; a member of the Advisory Board for the Forensic Sciences Training Program at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, New York City; and a member of the Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospitals National Council, where she is an advocate for psychiatric research. In 2008, Cornwell won the Galaxy British Book Awards Books Direct Crime Thriller of the Yearthe first American to win this prestigious award. In 2011, she was awarded the Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Ministry of Culture in Paris. Her most recent bestsellers include The Bone Bed, Red Mist, Port Mortuary, The Scarpetta Factor, The Front, and Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper. Her earlier works include Postmortemthe only novel to win five major crime awards in a single yearand Cruel and Unusual, which won Britains Gold Dagger Award for best crime novel of 1993. Dr. Kay Scarpetta herself won the 1999 Sherlock Award for the best detective created by an American author.