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Brand New: abridged Still shrink wrapped
4 CDs 4 Hours
From Potters Field - Patricia Cornwell
FROM POTTER'S FIELD
Read by Blair Brown
IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE IN NEW YORK AND A SADISTIC KILLER IS ABOUT TO DISTURB THE
PEACE?
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.
Only Scarpetta can interpret the forensic hieroglyphics at the New York City
morgue and give a name to the nameless. As she sifts through conflicting clues,
Gault strikes again -- moving terrifyingly close to Scarpetta herself. From
Potter's Field is a stunning achievement from a bestselling author at the peak
of her powers.
About the Author Patricia Cornwell
(From Wikipedia) Patricia Cornwell (born Patricia Carroll Daniels on June 9,
1956) is the author of a popular series of crime novels, many featuring the
fictional heroine "Dr. Kay Scarpetta", a medical examiner.
Biographical information
She was born in Miami, Florida. She is a descendant of Harriet Beecher
Stowe.Shortly after graduating Davidson College (in North Carolina), she
married her English Professor Dr. Charles Cornwell, 17 years her senior. Dr.
Cornwell left his tenured professorship to become a preacher, and Patricia
began writing a biography of Billy Graham's wife. They divorced shortly
thereafter.
Cornwell has made several notable charitable acts, including funding
scholarships to the University of Tennessee's National Forensics Academy,
Davidson College's Creative Writing Program, and donating her collection of
Walter Sickert paintings to Harvard University.
Eugene Bennett, a former FBI agent, attempted to murder his wife, Marguerite,
in 1996 because he thought that she had had an affair four years earlier with
Cornwell.
Her writing
The Scarpetta novels include a great deal of detail on forensics. The solution
to the mystery usually is found in the forensic investigation of the murder
victim's corpse, although Scarpetta does considerably more field investigation
and confrontation with suspects than real-life medical examiners. The novels
are considered to have influenced the development of popular TV series on
forensics, both fictional, such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and
documentaries, such as Cold Case Squad.
Procedural details are part of the allure of her novels. Cornwell herself
worked at a crime lab in Virginia as a technical writer and computer analyst
but not in any official medical or forensics capacity. Her attempts to portray
herself as an expert in those fields have caused some bad feelings from those
who have actual training and licensing, including Kathy Reichs, who is both a
board-certified forensic anthropologist and a crime novelist.
Other significant themes in the Scarpetta novels include health in general;
individual safety and security; food; and family. Although scenes from the
novels take place in a variety of locations around the U.S. and (less commonly)
internationally, the city of Richmond, Virginia features prominently.
Besides the Scarpetta novels, Cornwell has written three more light-hearted
police fictions featuring Andy Brazil, as well as a number of works of
non-fiction.
Controversies
Jack the Ripper
Cornwell has been involved in a continuing, self-financed search for evidence
to support her theory that painter Walter Sickert was Jack the Ripper. She
published Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed in 2002 to much
controversy, especially within the British art world, where Sickert's work is
admired, and also among Ripperologists, who criticize her methods and
conclusions. See Portrait of a Killer for further information. However,
Cornwell denies a Jack the Ripper obsession in full-page ads in two British
newspapers.
List of works
Note: these are Scarpetta novels unless otherwise noted.
* A Time for Remembering (1983; non-fiction; biography of Ruth Bell Graham;
later reissued as Ruth: A Portrait)
* Postmortem (1990)
* Body of Evidence (1991)
* All That Remains (1992)
* Cruel and Unusual (1993)
* The Body Farm (1994)
* From Potter's Field (1995)
* Cause of Death (1996)
* Hornet's Nest (1997; Andy Brazil)
* Unnatural Exposure (1997)
* Point of Origin (1998)
* Scarpetta's Winter Table (1998)
* Black Notice (1999)
* Southern Cross (1999; Andy Brazil)
* Life's Little Fable (1999; children's book)
* The Last Precinct (2000)
* Isle Of Dogs (2001; Andy Brazil)
* Food to Die For: Secrets from Kay Scarpetta's Kitchen (2002; non-fiction)
* Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed (2002; non-fiction)
* Blow Fly (2003)
* Trace (2004)
* Predator (2005)
* At Risk (2006)
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