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Postmortem (novel)
Encyclopedia
Postmortem is a crime fiction
novel by author Patricia Cornwell
. The first book of the Dr. Kay Scarpetta
series, it received the 1991 Edgar Award
for Best First Novel.
The killer leaves behind few clues; among them are a mysterious substance which fluoresces
under laser light, traces of semen, and in the vicinity of the last murder, an unusual smell. Scarpetta and Marino work with FBI profiler
Benton Wesley to attempt to piece together a profile of the killer. Initial evidence appears to point to the fourth victim's husband, but Scarpetta suspects otherwise despite Marino's insistence. (The book references DNA profiling as a relatively new technique, and characters briefly bemoan the lack of a criminal DNA database
which could provide better leads to suspects, given available evidence.)
Meanwhile in her personal life, Scarpetta must deal with the presence of her extremely precocious ten-year-old niece, Lucy, as well as an uncertain romantic relationship with the local Commonwealth's attorney
.
During the investigation, a series of news leaks about the murders appear to be coming from a source within the medical examiner's office. The leaks threaten Scarpetta's position, especially after she is forced to admit that her office database has been compromised.
Believing that the killer thrives on media attention and hoping to flush him out by provoking his ego, Scarpetta, Wesley, and local investigative reporter Abby Turnbull (whose sister was the fifth victim) conspire to release a news story which suggests that the killer has a distinctive body odor due to a rare metabolic disease
and implies that the killer may be mentally disordered.
While attempting to find another link between the five murders, Scarpetta discovers that all five intended victims had recently called 911
; she suspects that the killer is a 911 operator and chose his victims based on their voices.
Scarpetta is awakened in the middle of the night by the killer, who has broken into her home. As she attempts to reach a gun she has kept nearby for protection, Marino bursts into her bedroom and shoots the intruder, having realized that the news article would make Scarpetta a likely target. Scarpetta's suspicion proves to be correct; the killer was a police and sometime 911 dispatcher.
. The novel was an evident success; with it Cornwell became the first author to receive the Edgar
, Creasey, Anthony
and Macavity
Awards and the French Prix du Roman d'Adventure in a single year.
, Creasey, Anthony
and Macavity
Awards and the French Prix du Roman d'Adventure for Postmortem.
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
novel by author Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Cornwell is a contemporary American crime writer. She is widely known for writing a popular series of novels featuring the heroine Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner.-Early life:...
. The first book of the Dr. Kay Scarpetta
Kay Scarpetta
Kay Scarpetta is a fictional character and protagonist in a series of crime novels written by Patricia Cornwell. The character is based on former Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Marcella Fierro, MD. The series is noted for the use of recent forensic technology in Scarpetta's investigations.-...
series, it received the 1991 Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
for Best First Novel.
Plot summary
The novel opens as Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner for the state of Virginia, receives an early-morning call from Sergeant Pete Marino, a homicide detective at the Richmond Police Department with whom Scarpetta has a tense working relationship. She meets him at the scene of a woman's gruesome strangling, the latest in a string of unsolved murders in Richmond.The killer leaves behind few clues; among them are a mysterious substance which fluoresces
Fluorescence
Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation of a different wavelength. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore lower energy, than the absorbed radiation...
under laser light, traces of semen, and in the vicinity of the last murder, an unusual smell. Scarpetta and Marino work with FBI profiler
Offender profiling
Offender profiling, also known as criminal profiling, is a behavioral and investigative tool that is intended to help investigators to profile unknown criminal subjects or offenders. Offender profiling is also known as criminal profiling, criminal personality profiling, criminological profiling,...
Benton Wesley to attempt to piece together a profile of the killer. Initial evidence appears to point to the fourth victim's husband, but Scarpetta suspects otherwise despite Marino's insistence. (The book references DNA profiling as a relatively new technique, and characters briefly bemoan the lack of a criminal DNA database
National DNA database
A national DNA database is a government database of DNA profiles which can be used by law enforcement agencies to identify suspects of crimes....
which could provide better leads to suspects, given available evidence.)
Meanwhile in her personal life, Scarpetta must deal with the presence of her extremely precocious ten-year-old niece, Lucy, as well as an uncertain romantic relationship with the local Commonwealth's attorney
Commonwealth's Attorney
Commonwealth's Attorney is the title given to the elected prosecutor of felony crimes in Kentucky and Virginia. Other states refer to similar prosecutors as District Attorney or State's Attorney....
.
During the investigation, a series of news leaks about the murders appear to be coming from a source within the medical examiner's office. The leaks threaten Scarpetta's position, especially after she is forced to admit that her office database has been compromised.
Believing that the killer thrives on media attention and hoping to flush him out by provoking his ego, Scarpetta, Wesley, and local investigative reporter Abby Turnbull (whose sister was the fifth victim) conspire to release a news story which suggests that the killer has a distinctive body odor due to a rare metabolic disease
Inborn error of metabolism
Inborn errors of metabolism comprise a large class of genetic diseases involving disorders of metabolism. The majority are due to defects of single genes that code for enzymes that facilitate conversion of various substances into others...
and implies that the killer may be mentally disordered.
While attempting to find another link between the five murders, Scarpetta discovers that all five intended victims had recently called 911
9-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...
; she suspects that the killer is a 911 operator and chose his victims based on their voices.
Scarpetta is awakened in the middle of the night by the killer, who has broken into her home. As she attempts to reach a gun she has kept nearby for protection, Marino bursts into her bedroom and shoots the intruder, having realized that the news article would make Scarpetta a likely target. Scarpetta's suspicion proves to be correct; the killer was a police and sometime 911 dispatcher.
Characters in Postmortem
- Kay ScarpettaKay ScarpettaKay Scarpetta is a fictional character and protagonist in a series of crime novels written by Patricia Cornwell. The character is based on former Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Marcella Fierro, MD. The series is noted for the use of recent forensic technology in Scarpetta's investigations.-...
- Chief Medical Examiner. - Benton Wesley - FBI Profiler. "He was FBI right down to his Florsheim shoes, a sharp featured man with prematurely silver hair suggesting a mellow disposition that wasn't there. He was lean and hard and looked like a trial lawyer in his precisely tailored khaki suit and blue silk paisley-printed tie. I couldn't recall ever seeing him in a shirt that wasn't white and lightly starched. He had a master's degree in psychology and had been a high school principal in Dallas before enlisting in the Bureau, where he worked first as a field agent, then undercover in fingering members of the Mafia, before ending up where he'd started, in a sense."
- Dorothy Farinelli - Kay's sister and mother of Lucy. Her current boyfriend is Ralph. Kay says of her that, "my sister should never have been a mother. My sister should never have been Italian."
- Lucy Farinelli - Kay's ten-year-old niece. Described as being, "a genius, an impossible little holy terror of enigmatic Latin descent whose father died when she was small. She had no one but my only sister, Dorothy, who was too caught up in writing children's books to worry much about her flesh-and-blood daughter."
- Pete Marino - Detective Sergeant in the RichmondRichmond, VirginiaRichmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
Police Department. Described as "pushing fifty, with a face life had chewed on, and long wisps of greying hair parted low on one side and combed over his balding pate. At least six feet tall, he was bay-windowed from decades of bourbon or beer."
Victims
- Brenda Steppe
- Patty Lewis
- Cecile Tyler
- Lori Anne Petersen
- Henna Yarborough - Sister of Abby Turnbull.
Literary significance and criticism
Postmortem, Patricia Cornwell's first novel, was published in 1990 following advice from editors at Mysterious Press to dump the then-male central character and to expand the character of Kay ScarpettaKay Scarpetta
Kay Scarpetta is a fictional character and protagonist in a series of crime novels written by Patricia Cornwell. The character is based on former Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Marcella Fierro, MD. The series is noted for the use of recent forensic technology in Scarpetta's investigations.-...
. The novel was an evident success; with it Cornwell became the first author to receive the Edgar
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
, Creasey, Anthony
Anthony Award
The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher , one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America....
and Macavity
Mystery Readers International
Mystery Readers International is a fan/reader organization open to all readers, fans, critics, editors, publishers, and writers of Mystery fiction. It was founded by Janet A...
Awards and the French Prix du Roman d'Adventure in a single year.
Awards and nominations
Patricia Cornwell received the EdgarEdgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
, Creasey, Anthony
Anthony Award
The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher , one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America....
and Macavity
Mystery Readers International
Mystery Readers International is a fan/reader organization open to all readers, fans, critics, editors, publishers, and writers of Mystery fiction. It was founded by Janet A...
Awards and the French Prix du Roman d'Adventure for Postmortem.
External links
- Author's Official Website
- Patricia Cornwell discusses Postmortem on the BBC World Book ClubWorld Book ClubWorld Book Club is a radio programme on the BBC World Service. Each edition of the programme, which is broadcast on the first Saturday of the month with repeats into the following Monday, features a famous author discussing one of his or her books, often the most well-known one, with the public...