This portion of Salon Saturday aired on November 4 and I later took a couple of Cromwell’s books with me to Hawaii. Patricia Cornwell is an author I’ve been hooked on for decades, and her medical examiner persona, Kay Scarpetta. If you read a fair amount you’ve probably encountered her; at least at a book stand, even if you chose something else. She is the second most popular female author after J. K. Rowling.
“When I was at college there were two things I vowed I’d never do. One was go to a funeral and the other was deal with computers. And then I ended up being a computer programmer in a morgue.” Often life makes our choices and we just need to follow that lead. Her knowledge of medical procedures and criminal analysis, are in part what makes her books hugely popular.
And now Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis are slated to play Kay and her combative sister Dorothy (Curtis) in a new Amazon Prime series.
Postmortem (1989), was the first book in the Kay Scarpetta series of 27 and counting. It introduced her, her niece Lucy and Sergeant Pete Marino. An auspicious debut, it went on to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity Awards as well as the French Prix du Roman d’Aventure prize—the first book ever to claim all these distinctions in a single year.
While three other series are also in the mix, the Scarpetta novels are her main focus. Beginning in Virginia where she became chief medical officer, the Scarpetta novels were set in New York City, Boston-Cambridge, North Carolina and Florida, which is where Cornwell was born.
To date, Cornwell’s books have sold over 100 million copies in 36 languages in over 120 countries. She now lives in Boston, where she researches advanced forensic techniques to include in her work.
Cornwell even tackled the Jack the Ripper mystery; going to London and reviewing the case files at Scotland Yard. There have been many theories about the identity of the Ripper and her three books added to the controversy.
Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper–Case Closed (2002)
Cornwell combines the rigorous discipline of twenty-first century police investigation with forensic techniques undreamed of during the late Victorian era to solve one of the most infamous and difficult serial murder cases in history. I found the read fascinating.
Chasing the Ripper: Kindle Edition (2014)
In this Kindle Single, Cornwell restates her case against Sickert, unveils new evidence, clarifies his motivations, and makes him human—and, along the way, explains how such a prominent cultural figure could be a notorious killer. She also directly faces down her critics with withering skill and, in doing so, is likely to re-ignite the debate over history’s most heinous unsolved crime.
Ripper: The Secret Life of Walter Sickert (2017)
This is a comprehensive and intriguing exposé of one of the world’s most chilling cases of serial murder—and the police force that failed to solve it.
Vain and charismatic Walter Sickert made a name for himself as a painter in Victorian London. But the ghoulish nature of his art—as well as extensive evidence—points to another name, one that’s left its bloody mark on the pages of history: Jack the Ripper. Cornwell has collected never-before-seen archival material—including a rare mortuary photo, personal correspondence and a will with a mysterious autopsy clause—and applied cutting-edge forensic science to open an old crime to new scrutiny.
Incorporating material from Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper—Case Closed, this new edition has been revised and expanded to include eight new chapters, detailed maps and hundreds of images that bring the sinister case to life.
Cornwell invested millions in pursuing this case with the intensity of a Scarpetta. It’s easy to see where this wonderful character originated; in the passionate writing of Cornwell.
Cornwell on film
Patricia Cornwell is listed as a producer, actress and writer in IMDB. As mentioned above she has two impressive actresses on board for her Kay Scarpetta novels, as well as movie credits that I cover here.
ATF (1999): Dir Dean Parisot, with Kathy Baker, Amy Brenneman, Vincent Angell
This TV movie paints a scenario like the Waco disaster when another militia group is buying guns, possible murder and an ATF agent getting in over her head. View on Tubi.
At Risk (2010): Dir Tom McLoughlin, with Andie MacDowell, Annabeth Gish, Daniel Sunjata
A district attorney wants to further her political dreams by solving an old murder. Based on the novel of the same name, Win Garano is called in to solve the cold case and make the DA look good for obvious political reasons. This TV movie even has Diahann Carroll in it and Cornwell plays a waitress. I read the book while I was in Hawaii. What can I say; free time.
The Front (2010): Dir Tom McLoughlin, with Andie MacDowell, Daniel Sunjata, Ashley Williams
A detective in a Boston suburb is assigned by his female district attorney to reopen an old murder case, which throws his life into grave peril. Wow, looks like déjà vu to me as the second book in this new Cornwell series comes to TV. Cornwell is still a waitress in this one. No info on where to view it yet.
Andy Webb, an English film critic has seen both movies and found them too complicated to easily follow with too much material for a 90 minute film. He does state that one must see At Risk first to sort out the various characters and their interrelationships. And he wasn’t happy with At Risk either, believing it would have been better as a mini-series. That I can understand since Michael Connelly’s Lincoln lawyer mini-series are excellent because each novel becomes several 1 hour episodes.
Hornet’s Nest (2012): Dir Millicent Shelton, with Sherry Springfield, Robbie Amell, Michael Boatman
This TV movie is an adaptation of the first novel in Cornwell’s series of mysteries featuring reporter Andy Brazil, Police Chief Judy Hammer, and her top deputy. The always wonderful Virginia Madsen plays Judy Hammer and Cornwell is still a waitress. Boy, what do you have to do to get a better job? I didn’t see any info on where to watch this movie as yet.
Kay Scarpetta (2023) in pre-production with Nicole Kidman, Jamie Lee Curtis
No other details as yet.
Bottom line: Until Kay Scarpetta comes out I’d stick with reading the novels.
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