Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Cornwell is an acclaimed American author, born on June 9, 1956, in Miami, Florida. She is best known for her crime novels, particularly the series featuring Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner. Cornwell's writing career began at the Charlotte Observer, where she worked as a police reporter and authored her first book, a biography of Ruth Bell Graham. In 1984, she transitioned to the Virginia medical examiner's office, where her experiences inspired her groundbreaking first novel, "Postmortem," published in 1990, which won numerous prestigious awards.
Over her career, Cornwell has published over thirty books, with twenty-nine becoming best sellers, and has sold more than 120 million copies worldwide. In addition to her literary achievements, she has also ventured into television, serving as an executive producer for adaptations of her works. Cornwell faced personal and financial challenges, including a trial against a former financial company, which resulted in a substantial award in her favor. Her most recent publications include "Autopsy" (2021), "Livid" (2022), "Unnatural Death" (2023), and "Identity Unknown" (2024), continuing to solidify her status as a leading figure in the crime fiction genre.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Patricia Cornwell
Writer
- Born: June 9, 1956
- Place of Birth: Miami, Florida
Biography
Patricia Daniels Cornwell was born in Miami, Florida, on June 9, 1956. Her father and mother, an attorney and secretary respectively, divorced when Patricia was young. Her mother moved to North Carolina with the children. The family’s new neighbors were evangelist Billy and Ruth Graham. The pastor’s wife gave Patricia a journal and urged her to write.
Patricia attended King College in Tennessee before transferring to Davidson College in North Carolina, where she received a journalism degree. After graduation, she married her former English professor, Charles Cornwell, a man seventeen years her senior. They divorced after ten years of marriage.
Patricia started writing for the Charlotte Observer as a police reporter. While she was there, she wrote a biography of Ruth Bell Graham, her first book-length work. In 1984, Cornwell changed careers, going to work for the Virginia medical examiner’s office. There she started as a writer and later worked as a computer analyst.
While there, she began writing the novel that would become her first mystery novel. She originally had envisioned a male protagonist, but that idea was scrapped after a suggestion by an editor. The resulting book, Postmortem, appeared in 1990 and went on to win every major mystery award that year, including the British Gold Dagger award. She wrote other books about the female medical examiner, as well as another series of mysteries. In 2002, she wrote an investigative look into the Jack the Ripper killings entitled Portrait of a Killer.
Continuing the momentum from Postmortem, Cornwell went on to publish several more novels, especially those revolving around the character of Kay Scarpetta. By 2016, she had become known as the top-selling crime writer in the country, having published twenty-nine best sellers out of more than thirty books total. Though she managed to write and publish the novel Dust in 2013, she had to struggle with drama in her own life as she was forced to sit through a trial after she brought a lawsuit against her former financial company, Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP. Accusing the company of negligence and cheating her and her wife out of millions of dollars, she was eventually awarded around $50 million in damages. In 2015, she published Depraved Heart, a Scarpetta novel that focuses on the main character's relationship with her niece, Lucy, as she tries to solve a possible homicide case. She followed this with several more Scarpetta novels, including Autopsy (2021), Livid (2022). Unnatural Death (2023), and Identity Unknown (2024). In total, Cornwell has sold more than 120 million books worldwide.
Cornwell has also made forays into television, serving as executive producer on several TV movies. These include At Risk and The Front, both in 2011, and The Hornet's Nest in 2012. In 2024, she served as executive producer for an Amazon streaming show about her famed character Scarpetta.
Bibliography
Cadwalladr, Carole. "Patricia Cornwell: 'I Grew Up with Fear.'" Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 1 Nov. 2015. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
Cornwell, Patricia. "Depraved Heart, A Conversation with Patricia Cornwell." Interview by Mark Rubinstein. Huffington Post. HuffingtonPost.com, 27 Oct. 2015. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
Langley, William. "Novelist Patricia Cornwell, First Lady of Crime Fiction, Is Armed and Dangerous." Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 24 Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
Nance, Kevin. "Patricia Cornwell Talks Kay Scarpetta and a Life of Crime Novels." Washington Post. Washington Post, 16 Dec. 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
"Patricia Cornwell." IMDb, www.imdb.com/name/nm0180503/?ref‗=nmnw‗ov. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
Patricia Cornwell, www.patriciacornwell.com/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
Valencia, Milton J. "Author Patricia Cornwell Awarded $50.9m In Suit." Boston Globe. Boston Globe Media, 19 Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.