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Patricia Cornwell

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(Redirected from Isle of Dogs (novel)) American crime writer (born 1956)

Patricia Cornwell
Cornwell in 2016Cornwell in 2016
BornPatricia Carroll Daniels
(1956-06-09) June 9, 1956 (age 68)
Miami, Florida, U.S.
OccupationNovelist
EducationKing College
Davidson College (BA)
Period1990–present
GenreCrime fiction
Spouse
Charles Cornwell ​ ​(m. 1980; div. 1989)​
Staci Gruber ​(m. 2006)​
Website
www.patriciacornwell.com

Patricia Cornwell (born Patricia Carroll Daniels; June 9, 1956) is an American crime writer. She is known for her best-selling novels featuring medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, of which the first was inspired by a series of sensational murders in Richmond, Virginia, where most of the stories are set. The plots are notable for their emphasis on forensic science, which has influenced later TV treatments of police work. Cornwell has also initiated new research into the Jack the Ripper killings, incriminating the popular British artist Walter Sickert. Her books have sold more than 120 million copies.

Early life

A descendant of abolitionist and writer Harriet Beecher Stowe, Cornwell was born on June 9, 1956, in Miami, Florida, second of three children, to Marilyn (née Zenner) and Sam Daniels. Her father was one of the leading appellate lawyers in the United States and served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. Cornwell later traced her own motivations in life to the emotional abuse she says she suffered from her father, who walked out on the family on Christmas Day 1961. She has said, "He was on his deathbed. We knew it was the last time we were seeing each other; he grabbed my brother's hand and mouthed 'I love you,' but he never touched me. All he did was write on a legal pad 'How's work?'"

In 1961, Marilyn left with three children in tow and moved to Montreat, North Carolina. Ruth Bell Graham, wife of the evangelist Billy Graham took the wayward family in and arranged for Cornwell and her brothers, Jim and John, to be raised by Lenore and Manfred Saunders, who had recently returned from Africa. Marilyn Daniels, suffering from severe depression, was hospitalized. Cornwell turned to Ruth Bell Graham as an authority figure, and it was she who noticed that Cornwell's talent lay in writing and encouraged her literary efforts. A bright student, a capable cartoonist, and a talented athlete on the tennis court, Cornwell attended King College in Bristol, Tennessee briefly before transferring to Davidson College on a tennis scholarship (which she later rejected), from where she graduated in 1979 with a B.A. in English.

Career

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In 1979, Cornwell began working as a reporter for The Charlotte Observer, initially editing TV listings, then moving to features, and finally becoming a reporter covering crime. In 1980, she received the North Carolina Press Association's Investigative Reporting Award for a series on prostitution. She continued at the newspaper until 1981, when she moved to Richmond, Virginia with her first husband, Charles Cornwell (married in 1980), who enrolled at the Union Theological Seminary. The same year she began working on the biography of Ruth Bell Graham, A Time for Remembering: The Ruth Bell Graham Story (renamed Ruth, A Portrait: The Story of Ruth Bell Graham in subsequent editions), which was published in 1983. The biography gained a Gold Medallion Book Award from the Evangelic Christian Publishers Association in 1985. It also, however, was a major blow to her friendship with Graham – they weren't on speaking terms for eight years following the book's publication.

Cornwell began work on her first novel in 1984, about a male detective named Joe Constable and met Dr. Marcella Farinelli Fierro, a medical examiner in Richmond, and subsequent inspiration for the character of Dr. Kay Scarpetta. In 1985, she took a job at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia. She worked there for six years, first as a technical writer and then as a computer analyst. She also volunteered to work with the Richmond Police Department. Cornwell wrote three novels that she says were rejected before the publication in 1990, of the first installment of her Scarpetta series, Postmortem, based on real-life stranglings in Richmond in the summer of 1987. The novel won her various awards including the British John Creasey Award, the French Prix du Roman d'Adventure and the American Edgar Award.

Scarpetta series

Main article: Kay Scarpetta

The Scarpetta novels include a great deal of detail on forensic science. The initial resolution to the mystery is found in the forensic investigation of the murder victim's corpse, although Scarpetta does considerably more field investigation and confrontation with suspects than real-life medical examiners. The novels generally climax with action scenes in which Scarpetta and her associates confront, or are confronted by, the killer or killers, usually concluding with the death of the killer. The novels are considered to have influenced the development of popular TV series on forensics, both fictional, such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and documentaries, such as Cold Case Files.

Other significant themes in the Scarpetta novels include health, individual safety and security, food, family, and the emerging sexual self-discovery of Scarpetta's niece. Often, conflicts and secret manipulations by Scarpetta's colleagues and staff are involved in the story-line and make the murder cases more complex. Although scenes from the novels take place in a variety of locations around the United States and (less commonly) internationally, they center around the city of Richmond, Virginia.

There are two marked style shifts in the Scarpetta novels. Starting from The Last Precinct (2000), the style changes from past tense to present tense. Starting from Blow Fly (2003), the style changes from a first person to a third person, omniscient, narrator. Events are even narrated from the viewpoint of the murderers. Before Blow Fly the events are seen through Scarpetta's eyes only, and other points of view only appear in letters that Scarpetta reads.

Cornwell shifted back to a first-person perspective in the Scarpetta novel Port Mortuary (2010).

Andy Brazil/Judy Hammer series

In addition to the Scarpetta novels, Cornwell has written three pseudo-police fictions, known as the Trooper Andy Brazil/Superintendent Judy Hammer series, which are set in North Carolina, Virginia, and off the mid-Atlantic coast. Besides the older-woman/younger-man premise, the books include themes of scatology and sepsis.

Jack the Ripper theorist

Cornwell has been involved in a continuing, self-financed quest for evidence to support her theory that Victorian painter Walter Sickert was Jack the Ripper. In pursuit of this hypothesis, she has written two books: Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper—Case Closed, published in 2002, and Ripper: The Secret Life Of Walter Sickert, published in 2017. In total, she is said to have spent a reported $6m on Ripper-related research.

She wrote Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper—Case Closed to much controversy, especially within the British art world and among Ripperologists. Cornwell denied being obsessed with Jack the Ripper in full-page ads in two British newspapers and has said the case was "far from closed". In 2001, Cornwell was criticized for allegedly destroying one of Sickert's paintings in pursuit of the Ripper's identity. She believed the well-known painter to be responsible for the string of murders and had purchased over 30 of his paintings and argued that they closely resembled the Ripper crime scenes. Cornwell also claimed a breakthrough: a letter written by someone purporting to be the killer had the same watermark as some of Sickert's writing paper. Ripper experts noted, however, that there were hundreds of letters from different authors falsely claiming to be the killer, and the watermark in question was on a brand of stationery that was widely available.

French art expert Johann Naldi validates the author's theory, claiming to have found a portrait that he attributes to the French painter Jacques-Émile Blanche. For Naldi, the discovery of this painting, which depicts a man who appears to share Sickert's features, is "visual confirmation of Patricia Cornwell's theory".

TV appearance

She made a brief appearance on the police procedural drama Criminal Minds in the episode "True Genius" as herself.

Legal issues

DUI case

On January 10, 1993, Cornwell crashed her Mercedes-Benz while under the influence of alcohol. She was convicted of drunk driving and sentenced to 28 days in a treatment center.

Leslie Sachs case

Leslie Sachs, author of The Virginia Ghost Murders (1998), claimed there were similarities between his novel and Cornwell's The Last Precinct. In 2000, he sent letters to Cornwell's publisher, started a web page, and placed stickers on copies of his novel alleging that Cornwell was committing plagiarism. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted Cornwell a preliminary injunction against Sachs, opining that his claims were likely to be found baseless.

In 2007, during her libel suit against Sachs, Cornwell testified that Sachs had accused her in online postings of being a "Jew hater" and "neo-Nazi" who bribed judges, conspired to have him killed, and was under investigation by U.S. authorities. The court permanently enjoined Sachs from making defamatory accusations against Cornwell and awarded Cornwell $37,780 in damages to cover the costs of defending herself against Sachs' internet attacks.

Anchin, Block & Anchin

In 2004, Cornwell assigned management of her financial matters to New York-based Anchin, Block & Anchin, managed by principal Evan Snapper. Agreeing to pay the firm a base rate of $40,000/month, her lawyer later claimed that Cornwell had hired Snapper to insulate herself from her money due to her ongoing mental health issues, and that Snapper knew this and took advantage of her over her four-and-a-half-year relationship with the company.

Cornwell fired the firm after discovering in July 2009 that the net worth of her and her company, Cornwell Entertainment Inc., despite having above $10 million in earnings per year during the previous four years, was a little under $13 million, the equivalent of only one year's net income. After Cornwell filed the lawsuit, Snapper pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance regulations. The court case opened in January 2013, with Cornwell suing the firm for a combined sum of $100M. On February 19, a Boston jury awarded Cornwell US$50.9 million (£33.4 million).

Personal life

Relationships

On June 14, 1980, she married Charles L. Cornwell, who was 17 years her senior and one of her professors. The marriage occurred shortly before her graduation. Charles Cornwell later became a Christian preacher. In 1989, the couple separated, with Patricia retaining her married name after the divorce.

Cornwell had a relationship with FBI agent Marguerite "Margo" Bennett, which earned headlines in 1989 after Bennett's husband attempted to kidnap his estranged wife.

In 2006, Cornwell married Staci Gruber, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard University. However, she did not disclose news of her marriage until 2007. Cornwell later stated that turning 50 had made her see the importance of speaking out for equal rights and spoke of how Billie Jean King had helped her come to terms with talking about her sexuality publicly. She lives with Gruber in Massachusetts.

Since childhood, Cornwell has been friends with the family of evangelist Billy Graham and his wife Ruth Bell, often serving as the family's unofficial spokesperson to the media. She also wrote an authorized biography of Ruth Bell Graham. Cornwell was previously a personal friend of President George H. W. Bush. She referred to him as "Big George" and vacationed at the family's summer retreat in Kennebunkport, Maine, but later distanced herself from the Bush family.

Health problems

Cornwell has in the past suffered from anorexia nervosa and depression, which began in her late teens. She spoke openly in 2008-09 about her struggle with bipolar disorder, but in 2015 said that she was misdiagnosed.

Political views

Since 1998, Cornwell has donated at least $84,000 to the Republican Party and $78,800 to the Democratic Party, and has made individual contributions to Republican and Democratic U.S. Senate candidates, including George Allen, John Warner, Orrin Hatch, Hillary Clinton, Nicola Tsongas, Charles Robb, and Mark Warner.

Cornwell has spoken negatively of the presidency of George W. Bush, saying, "I was supportive of young George W. Bush because I liked his family. I thought he was going to be another Big George. Boy, was I ever wrong. It's not a democracy so much as a theocracy, and those are not the principles this country was founded on."

Charity

Cornwell has made several notable charitable donations, including funding the Virginia Institute for Forensic Science and Medicine, funding scholarships to the University of Tennessee's National Forensics Academy and Davidson College's Creative Writing Program (the result of which is the Patricia Cornwell Creative Writing Scholarship, awarded to one or two incoming freshmen), and donating her collection of Walter Sickert paintings to Harvard University. As a member of the Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital's National Council, she is an advocate for psychiatric research. She has also made million-dollar donations to the John Jay College of Criminal Justice for the Crime Scene Academy and to the Harvard Art Museum. She donated funds to the Richmond City Police Dept. and neighboring Henrico County Police Dept. to purchase bullet-proof vests for the police dogs. Cornwell is also a major contributor at the Five Star level to the Veterans Village of San Diego, with lifetime giving of more than $250,000. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, Maryland trains investigators in the Scarpetta House, a full-scale apartment donated by Cornwell, in which crime scenes are staged.

Hobbies

Patricia received her private helicopter license in 1999.

Bibliography

Fiction series

Kay Scarpetta series:
  1. Postmortem (1990)
  2. Body of Evidence (1991)
  3. All That Remains (1992)
  4. Cruel and Unusual (1993)
  5. The Body Farm (1994)
  6. From Potter's Field (1995)
  7. Cause of Death (1996)
  8. Unnatural Exposure (1997)
  9. Point of Origin (1998)
    • Scarpetta's Winter Table (1998)
  10. Black Notice (1999)
  11. The Last Precinct (2000)
  12. Blow Fly (2003)
  13. Trace (2004)
  14. Predator (2005)
  15. Book of the Dead (2007)
  16. Scarpetta (2008)
  17. The Scarpetta Factor (2009)
  18. Port Mortuary (2010)
  19. Red Mist (2011)
  20. The Bone Bed (2012)
  21. Dust (2013)
  22. Flesh and Blood (2014)
  23. Depraved Heart (2015)
  24. Chaos (2016)
  25. Autopsy (2021)
  26. Livid (2022)
  27. Unnatural Death (2023)
  28. Identity Unknown (2024)
Andy Brazil / Judy Hammer series:
  1. Hornet's Nest (1996)
  2. Southern Cross (1998)
  3. Isle of Dogs (2001)
Win Garano series:
  1. At Risk (2006)
  2. The Front (2008)
Captain Chase series:
  1. Quantum (2019)
  2. Spin (2020)

Children's books

  • Life's Little Fable (1999)

Non-fiction

Omnibus

  • The First Scarpetta Collection. Postmortem and Body of Evidence (1995)
  • A Scarpetta Omnibus: Postmortem, Body of Evidence, All that Remains (2000)
  • A Second Scarpetta Omnibus: Cruel and Unusual, The Body Farm, From Potter's Field (2000)
  • A Third Scarpetta Omnibus: Cause of Death, Unnatural Exposure & Point of Origin (2002)
  • The Scarpetta Collection Volume 1: Postmortem and Body of Evidence (2003)
  • The Scarpetta Collection Volume 2: All that Remains and Cruel and Unusual (2003)

Awards

References

  1. Patricia Cornwell Biography and Notes (June 9, 1956). "Patricia Cornwell Biography and List of Works - Patricia Cornwell Books". Biblio.com. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  2. ^ "Patricia Cornwell: "When I was Outed as a Lesbian I didn't leave my House for a Month - I was Afraid, Horrified, and Humiliated". Belfast Telegraph. November 16, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  3. ^ Saner, Ermine (November 20, 2023). "Interview 'I lived in a state of terror': Patricia Cornwell on childhood trauma, her new novel and the search for Bigfoot". The Guardian. Archived from the original on January 4, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  4. "Kay Scarpetta". Book Series in Order. September 20, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  5. Rubinstein, Mark (November 12, 2014). "Flesh and Blood: A Fascinating Talk With Patricia Cornwell". HuffPost. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  6. "Best-selling crime novelist Patricia Cornwell is born". HISTORY. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  7. "Kay Scarpetta Reading Order: How to read Patricia Cornwell books?". How To Read Me. September 27, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  8. ^ Kidd, James (December 6, 2008). ""I created a monster": Interview with Patricia Cornwell". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 27, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  9. "November Article: Portrait of the Artist as a Serial Killer". Artcyclopedia.com. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  10. ^ "Jack the Ripper - The Art of Murder". Casebook. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  11. "Jack the Ripper - Patricia Cornwell and Walter Sickert: A Primer". Casebook. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  12. "The Grand Old Ripper". The Guardian. London. August 25, 2005. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  13. "Author denies 'Ripper' obsession". BBC News. August 27, 2005. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  14. ^ Gibbons, Fiachra (December 8, 2001). "Does this painting by Walter Sickert reveal the identity of Jack the Ripper? Author rips up canvas in attempt to prove artist was killer". The Guardian. London. Retrieved October 20, 2009.
  15. De Boishue, Pierre (February 3, 2024). "Jack l'Éventreur : l'incroyable portrait qui relance l'enquête". Le Figaro.
  16. Gandillot, Thierry (February 17, 2024). "Jack l'Éventreur. Et si c'était lui ?". Le Journal. info.
  17. Isaac, Anne-Emmanuelle (February 14, 2024). "Jack l'Eventreur : le visage du célèbre tueur enfin révélé ?". Le Figaro TV.
  18. Cauet, Ella (March 8, 2024). "L'identité de Jack L'Eventreur dévoilée dans un tableau ?". Radio classique.
  19. Fabrikant, Geraldine (March 23, 1997). "New Chapter for a Serial Spender". The New York Times.
  20. "Cyberlaw update - Chapter 10: Privacy Rights and Security Issues". Pearson Higher Education. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  21. Glaister, Dan (May 24, 2007). "The plot thickens as crime writer Patricia Cornwell takes 'cyberstalker' to court". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 26, 2007. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  22. Mehegan, David (June 7, 2007). "Crime novelist tries to ward off Internet attacker". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on June 10, 2007. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  23. Heller, Matthew (December 24, 2007). "Defaulted Defamer Ordered to Pay Crime Author $35K". On Point. Archived from the original on January 2, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  24. ^ Milton J. Valencia (January 9, 2012). "Mystery novelist accuses her manager of betrayal". Boston Globe. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
  25. "Crime novelist Patricia Cornwell sues finance firm". BBC News. January 14, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  26. Hughes, Mark (February 20, 2013). "Crime writer Patricia Cornwell wins $51m lawsuit against accountants". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  27. ^ "Patricia Cornwell: 'Finally, I feel rooted somewhere'". Telegraph. November 26, 2007. Archived from the original on April 20, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  28. "Patricia Cornwell out $40 million". Advocate. October 20, 2009. Archived from the original on November 15, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  29. Memmott, Carol (December 3, 2008). "Crime pays quite well for Patricia Cornwell". USA Today. Archived from the original on February 8, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  30. Stepp, Laura Sessions (December 13, 2006). "A Family at Cross-Purposes: Billy Graham's Sons Argue Over a Final Resting Place". Washington Post.
  31. ^ Nigel Farndale (November 16, 2009). "Killer Queen: Patricia Cornwell Interview". Telegraph. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  32. Cornwell, Patricia (January 24, 2015). "Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  33. "NEWSMEAT ▷ Patricia Cornwell's Federal Campaign Contribution Report". Newsmeat.com. Archived from the original on January 28, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  34. Cichowski, Lorraine (March 1, 2002). "Patricia Cornwell Launches Forensic in Literature Series". VCU News. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  35. "Harvard to Get Paintings by Artist Controversially Linked to Ripper". The Chronicle of Higher Education. August 20, 2006. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  36. "Patricia Cornwell, Internationally Known #1 New York Times Bestselling Crime Writer, Donates $1 Million to John Jay College of Criminal Justice - Gift Will Establish New Cutting-Edge Crime Scene Academy". John Jay College of Criminal Justice. February 15, 2008. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  37. "Patricia Cornwell Conservation Scientist is Established at the Harvard Art Museum's Straus Center for conservation and Technical Studies". Harvard Art Museum. November 19, 2008. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  38. "Patricia Cornwell, #1 Bestselling Author, Launches 'America For Vets,' a National Campaign that Will Deliver Everyday Supplies to Veterans in Need Through Veterans Village of San Diego (VVSD)". Cision PR Newswire. November 22, 2010. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  39. Engelhaupt, Erika (2020). Gory details: adventures from the dark side of science. Washington, DC: National Geographic Partners, LLC. ISBN 978-1-4262-2098-2.
  40. Pimentel, Dan (March 31, 2022). "Patricia Cornwell's Rotor Research'". Flying Magazine. London. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  41. 1985 Gold Medallion Book Awards Winners, Evangelical Christian Publishers Association
  42. "Best First Mystery Novel by an American Author Edgar Award Winners and Nominees - Complete Lists". Mysterynet.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2012. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
  43. "Bouchercon World Mystery Convention : Anthony Awards Nominees". Bouchercon.info. October 2, 2003. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
  44. "Mystery Readers International's Macavity Awards". Mysteryreaders.org. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
  45. "THE CWA Dagger Awards Overview". Thecwa.co.uk. August 23, 2011. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  46. Cornwell, Patricia (January 8, 2006). "At Risk". The New York Times. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  47. "The RBA International Thriller Prize". RBA. Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2024.

Sources

External links

Library resources
By Patricia Cornwell
Recipients of the RBA Prize for Crime Writing
Categories: