Dust - Kay Scarpetta (Book 21)

Her genuine affection for, and interest in, her main character radiates through the novel, and her research for The Bone Bed is as thorough as ever. Where Cornwell excels is in her ability to transcend the cliches and deliver a good, old fashioned thriller that has enough CSI-style touches to draw in the forensics- obsessed fan while never taking her eye of her plotting and characters - Sunday Business Post Ireland

Cornwell, who has already won more prizes than you can shake a stick at, seems to be getting better and better - City AM

If you like your fiction fast-paced with a scientific twist, Cornwell delivers once again, and if you are new to Scarpetta, you are sure to be hooked by the end of the first chapter - Irish Examiner

The iconic forensic consultant is as brittle as ever, and the body count is as high as Cornwell fans have come to expect. Cornwell hasn’t sold 100 million novels for no good reason - Independent

In 1990, Patricia Cornwell sold her first novel, Postmortem, while working at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. An auspicious debut, it went on to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity Awards, as well as the French Prix du Roman d’Aventures - the first book ever to claim all these distinctions in a single year. Growing into an international phenomenon, the Scarpetta series won Cornwell the Sherlock Award for best detective created by an American author, the Gold Dagger Award, the RBA Thriller Award, and the Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters for her contributions to literary and artistic development.

Today, Cornwell’s novels and iconic characters are known around the world. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Cornwell has written the definitive nonfiction account of Jack the Ripper’s identity, cookbooks, a children’s book, a biography of Ruth Graham, and three other fictional series based on the characters Win Garano, Andy Brazil, and Captain Calli Chase. Cornwell continues exploring the latest space-age technologies and threats relevant to contemporary life. Her interests range from the morgue to artificial intelligence and include visits to Interpol, the Pentagon, the U.S. Secret Service and NASA.

Cornwell was born in Miami. She grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston.