The inspiration for the upcoming Prime Video series Scarpetta —starring Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis! From #1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Cornwell comes Postmortem , the groundbreaking thriller that introduced Dr. Kay Scarpetta and redefined the crime genre. A killer is stalking the streets of Richmond, Virginia. When the bodies begin to mount, Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta is pulled into a chilling investigation that blends high-stakes forensics with psychological warfare. Armed with cutting-edge science and unflinching resolve, Scarpetta must navigate hostile forces both inside and outside the investigation—because someone isn’t just trying to hide the truth. They’re trying to kill her. Cornwell’s gift for combining expert-level criminology with bone-chilling suspense makes this book a true modern classic. Relentlessly paced and shockingly prescient, Postmortem is the electrifying first chapter in the Scarpetta series—still as razor-sharp and relevant as ever. Praise for Patricia Cornwell “Cornwell…[has] brought new life to the moribund detective fiction genre. Her intelligent, self-made heroine gets our respect because she is extraordinarily competent at her job, and so thoroughly devoted to it…Cornwell’s renderings of death are lucid, intricate and beautifully compassionate, showing again and again how the examination of the dead illuminates the passions of the living.” — The New York Times “Dr. Kay Scarpetta, who keeps us coming back to Patricia Cornwell’s sprawling crime novels, is one tough broad.” — New York Times Book Review “Patricia Cornwell is a “masterful mysterian.” — Kirkus “Her writing is masterful.” — Booklist “Cornwell’s books run on high octane fuel, a cocktail of adrenalin and fear.” — The Times (London) “Everyone knows Scarpetta; she has the wit, intelligence, and strength that any forensic sleuth should own. This never-stop action plot is yet another gift to readers from Patricia Cornwell-a literary artist that is never going to stop writing some of the best and most memorable thrillers out there.” — Suspense Magazine “I grew up in Richmond where Patricia Cornwell’s electrifying debut novel Postmortem was set. I still remember the thrill of following one of crime fiction’s greatest characters, Kay Scarpetta, as she hunted down a killer.” —David Baldacci, New York Times bestselling author of Strangers in Time “Iconic. Bold. Brilliant.” —Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of All the Colors of the Dark Patricia Cornwell is recognized as one of the world’s top bestselling crime authors with novels translated into thirty-six languages in more than 120 countries. Her novels have won numerous prestigious awards including the Edgar, the Creasey, the Anthony, the Macavity, and the Prix du Roman d’Aventure. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Cornwell has written a definitive book about Jack the Ripper, a biography, and two more fiction series among others. Cornwell, a licensed helicopter pilot and scuba diver, actively researches the cutting-edge forensic technologies that inform her work. She was born in Miami, grew up in Montreat, NC, and now lives and works in Boston. Find out more at PatriciaCornwell.com, at Facebook.com/Patricia.Cornwell, on X: @1PCornwell, and on Instagram: @1PCornwell. Chapter 1 1 It was raining in Richmond on Friday, June 6. The relentless downpour, which began at dawn, beat the lilies to naked stalks, and blacktop and sidewalks were littered with leaves. There were small rivers in the streets, and newborn ponds on playing fields and lawns. I went to sleep to the sound of water drumming the slate roof, and was dreaming a terrible dream as night dissolved into the foggy first hours of Saturday morning. I saw a white face beyond the rain-streaked glass, a face formless and inhuman like the faces of misshapen dolls made of nylon hose. My bedroom window was dark when suddenly the face was there, an evil intelligence looking in. I woke up and stared blindly into the dark. I did not know what had awakened me until the telephone rang again. I found the receiver without fumbling. “Dr. Scarpetta?” “Yes.” I reached for the lamp and switched it on. It was 2:33 A.M. My heart was drilling through my ribs. “Pete Marino here. We got us one at 5602 Berkeley Avenue. Think you better come.” The victim’s name, he went on to explain, was Lori Petersen, a white female, thirty years old. Her husband had found her body about half an hour earlier. Details were unnecessary. The moment I picked up the receiver and recognized Sergeant Marino’s voice, I knew. Maybe I knew the instant the telephone rang. People who believe in werewolves are afraid of a full moon. I’d begun to dread the hours between midnight and 3:00 A.M. when Friday becomes Saturday and the city is unconscious. Ordinarily, the medical examiner on call is summoned to a death scene. But this wasn’t ordina