Book Review: Unnatural Death by Patricia Cornwell

Patricia Cornwell remains a preeminent name in suspense, having created one of the most boundless, groundbreaking, and memorable protagonists in literary history with Dr. Kay Scarpetta. Beginning with the publication of Postmortem (1990)—the first book ever to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity Awards and the French Prix d’ Aventures in a single year—Scarpetta has appeared in twenty-seven novels which (along with the author’s other works) have sold more than 100 million copies around the world. While Cornwell took a break from the character following 2016’s Chaos, she returned to give the series a creative cleansing with 2021’s Autopsy and its subsequent entry, Livid. 

November’s Unnatural Death opens on the morning of November 1st, following the deadliest Halloween in Northern Virginia’s history. Our beloved (and beleaguered) Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth, is summoned to a curious and potentially hazardous crime scene, where two bodies have been discovered in the wilds, their remains inexplicably desecrated by an unknown predator. Equally mystifying is the appearance of a larger-than-life footprint found nearby, where one of the victims has been discarded in a mine shaft. Are the two related or is it a rare case of coincidence? Scarpetta will have no choice but to find out.

Unsurprisingly, things escalate into a media maelstrom. The victims are identified as internationally connected off-the-gridders wanted by the feds—and whose cause of death is as baffling as it is barbaric. Then, there’s the matter of the Bigfoot imprint, which may or may not be genuine. Speculation is a destructive thing—especially in the minds and mouths of detractors, who will use any means necessary to gain political leverage and public support. Consequently, Scarpetta—aided by her temperamental but trusty investigator, Marino, her tech-savvy (and comparably temperamental) niece, Lucy, and her steadfast husband, Benton (a forensic psychologist with the Secret Service)—must put all questions to rest, even as threats swirl around her like falling snow.

Scarpetta—as reliable a narrator as they come—is rocked to the core by a revelation that not only causes her to reevaluate her understanding of the past but to question the loyalties of those she loves most. What could have been a gimmicky plot twist is rendered both believable and resonant in Cornwell’s capable hands (though to say more would be to risk venturing into spoiler territory). Despite the gravity of the situation(s), the Sasquatch storyline adds an element of lightheartedness while Scarpetta’s intimate moments with Marino, Lucy, and Benton—often while being transported to crime scenes—showcase the complex yet sustaining relationships that have grounded this series from the very beginning.

Patricia Cornwell triumphs here, again recapturing the spark that made her early Scarpetta books so transformative. Not only is her research and rendering of global threats top-notch, but she inhabits characters and circumstances in ways that few writers can. The result is a terrifying and timely tale—but one that also delivers the comfort and familiarity of family and home. Unnatural Death is not only the best of the new Scarpetta novels but, arguably, a best book of the year.