Kay Scarpetta · Book 1
Postmortem
- Published
- 1 January 1990
- Pages
- 364
- ISBN-13
- 9780751564242
- Type
- novel
About this book
Postmortem (1990) introduces Kay Scarpetta as Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner and launches Patricia Cornwell's forensic-procedural, a series credited with bringing DNA evidence and autopsy-table detail into crime fiction with a technical seriousness that was startling for its time. It runs 364 pages and sets up the partnership with detective Pete Marino that carries across the whole series.
Its place in Kay Scarpetta
Postmortem is book 1 in the Kay Scarpetta series. It is followed by Body of Evidence. See the full Kay Scarpetta reading order.
Kay Scarpetta is the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia (and, later, a federal forensic investigator and private consultant) whose autopsy table is where every case really begins. Patricia Cornwell's series is credited with popularising the modern forensic-procedural: DNA evidence, trace analysis and autopsy detail that were startlingly technical for genre fiction in 1990 and remain a core selling point today. Scarpetta investigates alongside her homicide-detective niece-in-all-but-name-later-partner Pete Marino…
Editions
- edition · unknown publisher · — · ISBN 9788425329838
- edition · unknown publisher · — · ISBN 9780751564242