Patricia Cornwell celebrates June 9, 1956, as her birth date in Miami, Fla. She is an American crime writer best known for her books highlighting Kay Scarpetta, medical examiner.

She is the second of three children in her family, her father a leading appellate lawyer who left his family when Patricia was five years old. Her mother moved the family to North Carolina and Billy and Ruth Bell Graham took them in. Ruth arranged for the kids to be raised by a couple who just returned from Africa since their mom was hospitalized with severe depression.

Patricia received a B.A. in English from Davidson College in North Carolina. She had several different jobs as reporter for the Charlotte Observer, mainly covering crime in Charlotte, N.C., married and moved to Richmond, Va. where she began work on the Ruth Bell Graham biography. She also worked in the office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia for six years.

Patricia writes forensic crime fiction books and some non-fiction. “Postmortem” was published in 1990, and was the first book in the Kay Scarpetta series, with 27 books to follow, with “Identity Unknown” published in 2024. Her novels featuring Scarpetta have won her several awards, including the Sherlock Award for the best detective created by an American author.

One of her hobbies is using her private helicopter license she received in 1999. Cornwell now lives in Boston.

We have 25 of her books here at our Library.