Paperback / ISBN-13: 9781408722626

Price: £10.99

ON SALE: 16th July 2026

Genre: Crime & Mystery / Suspense

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SCARPETTA, A BRAND NEW ORIGINAL SERIES, IS NOW ON PRIME VIDEO

NO ONE IS SAFE FROM THE SERIAL KILLER. NOT EVEN SCARPETTA…

In the early hours of the morning, chief medical examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta receives a chilling call. The Phantom Slasher has struck again.

The serial killer has terrorized Northern Virginia for months. His pattern is to stalk with a sophisticated technology that enables him to invade his victims’ homes and watch their every move. They wake up to a ghost-like hologram before being murdered in their beds.

Scarpetta is summoned to Mercy Island, the site of a notorious psychiatric hospital where two people have been brutalized, one of them from Scarpetta’s past. It soon becomes apparent that she could be next . . .

‘In Sharp Force Cornwell is at the very top of her game and Scarpetta is as finely wrought as ever. The research is impeccable as always . . . You are in the hands of a master storyteller. Sit back and prepare to be thrilled’ DAVID BALDACCI

‘Compelling, grisly and dark, another incredible thriller’ THE SUN

‘This is vintage Cornwell’
THE FINANCIAL TIMES

‘Masterfully plotted and utterly addictive’ WOMAN’S OWN

Reviews

Cutting-edge
SUN
An especially good entry in the series
BOOKLIST
Slick, fast-paced and brilliant
HEAT
A brisk, kaleidoscopic thriller
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A chilling, thrilling, macabre masterpiece. Unnatural Death is Patricia Cornwell at her mesmerising finest. The best just got better
CHRIS WHITAKER
Astonishing . . . Thirty years on, there's still no other crime writer like her
SUNDAY TIMES
PRAISE FOR UNNATURAL DEATH
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The queen of the forensic thriller
MAIL ON SUNDAY
Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns
MIRROR
One of the best crime writers writing today
GUARDIAN
PRAISE FOR PATRICIA CORNWELL
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PRAISE FOR PATRICIA CORNWELL
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Expert pacing and psychologically nuanced and complex characters
LIBRARY JOURNAL
Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns
MIRROR
When it comes to forensic sciences, nobody can touch Cornwell
NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
In Sharp Force Cornwell is at the very top of her game and Scarpetta is as finely wrought as ever. The research is as impeccable as always . . . You are in the hands of a master storyteller. Sit back and prepare to be thrilled
DAVID BALDACCI
The queen of the forensic thriller
MAIL ON SUNDAY
Thirty years on, there's still no other crime writer like her
SUNDAY TIMES
America's most stimulating and chilling writer of crime fiction
THE TIMES
A masterfully plotted and utterly addictive crime thriller
WOMAN'S OWN
Slick, ghoulish, and a reliable stocking-filler for crime fiction lovers
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
A pioneer of the genre of forensic psychological thriller
BBC
The top gun in this field
DAILY TELEGRAPH
America's most stimulating and chilling writer of crime fiction
THE TIMES
Compelling, grisly and dark, another incredible thriller
THE SUN
The Agatha Christie of the DNA age
EXPRESS
The Agatha Christie of the DNA age
EXPRESS
One of the all-time greats of this genre
SUN
Classic Cornwell with an up-to-the-minute twenty-first-century plot - an intoxicating blend that proves Scarpetta is still queen of the autopsy and Cornwell is still queen of crime fiction. An utterly thrilling roller coaster ride
ANDREA MARA
The top gun in this field
DAILY TELEGRAPH
With Cornwell's signature forensic detail and intense pacing, this latest instalment is a must read
YOURS MAGAZINE
This is vintage Cornwell
FINANCIAL TIMES
One of the best crime writers writing today
GUARDIAN
Sinister, surprising and utterly unputdownable. Cornwell at her brilliant best
M. J. ARLIDGE
Cornwell really is in a league of her own
HEAT