''Body of Evidence'' is a

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

novel by

Patricia Cornwell 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 ...

. It is the second book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.

Plot summary

Kay Scarpetta, chief medical examiner of Virginia, gets involved in the case of a brutal stabbing death in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

writer Beryl Madison. Then, Madison's greedy lawyer accuses Scarpetta of losing his client's latest manuscript, an autobiographical expose of Beryl's early life as protégé of a legendary novelist. As more deaths occur and the killer closes in on her, Kay finds herself also having to deal with the unexpected reappearance of long-lost lover Mark James. Scarpetta soon finds herself living Beryl's nightmare.

Characters

Kay Scarpetta Kay Scarpetta is a fictional character inspired by former Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Marcella Farinelli Fierro MD (retired). She is the protagonist in a series of crime novels written by Patricia Cornwell noted for its use of recent forensi ...

: Chief Medical Examiner. *Benton Wesley:

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

profiler. "Benton Wesley could be as Prussian as the rest of them, but over the years he had won my respect. Beneath his Bureau boilerplate was a human being worth knowing. He was brisk and energetic, even when he was sitting, and he was typically dapper in his dark suit trousers and starched white shirt. His necktie was fashionably narrow and perfectly knotted, the black holster on his belt lonely for its ten-millimeter, which he almost never wore indoors. I hadn't seen Benton Wesley for a while and he hadn't changed. He was fit and handsome in a hard way, with premature silver-gray hair that never failed to surprise me." *Pete Marino: Recently promoted to Lieutenant in the

Police Department. *Mark James: Kay's ex-lover, whom she met when she was enrolled in law school at Georgetown. "He was going to be a lawyer because his father and grandfather were lawyers. I was Catholic, Mark was Protestant. I was Italian, he was as Anglo as Prince Charles. I was brought up poor, he was brought up in one of the wealthiest residential districts of Boston."Body of Evidence, p.33. *Frankie Aims: Mentally unstable friend of Al Hunt. Becomes obsessed with Beryl and eventually murders her in her Richmond home. * Sparacino: Beryl's agent.

Victims

*Beryl Stratton Madison *Cary Harper *Sterling Harper (suicide) *Al Hunt (suicide)

Major themes

* The unknown killer's obsession with Beryl Madison. * The inability to outrun evil. Scarpetta's moving to

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

temporarily, in an attempt to escape the killer, is similar to Beryl's running to a safe haven before being murdered. The only difference was that Scarpetta managed to defeat the killer.

Reception

Following the success of ''

Postmortem An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...

'', with which Cornwell became the first author to receive the

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...

, Creasey,

Anthony Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonia (gens), Antonii'', a ''gens'' (Roman naming conventions, Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were ...

and

Macavity Macavity the Mystery Cat, also called the Hidden Paw, is a fictional character in T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. He also appears in the Andrew Lloyd Webber 1981 musical ''Cats'', which is based on Elio ...

Awards and the French Prix du Roman d'Adventure in a single year,Biography of Patricia Cornwell
/ref>Dauncey, S. University of Warwick. "Patricia Cornwell." The Literary Encyclopedia. November 18, 2005. The Literary Dictionary Company. April 22, 2007.
/ref> the price of Cornwell's book deals went up quite a bit from the $7,500 or less which was paid for ''Postmortem''. In March 1991 she signed a $385,000 deal for the paperback rights for ''Body of Evidence''.

References

External links

Author's Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Body Of Evidence (Novel) 1991 American novels Novels by Patricia Cornwell Novels set in Richmond, Virginia American crime novels