Dust, Patricia Cornwell
Dust, Patricia Cornwell
31 Rating(s)
List: $24.00 | Sale: $16.80
Club: $12.00

Dust
Scarpetta (Book 21)

Author: Patricia Cornwell

Narrator: Kate Reading

Unabridged: 14 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 11/12/2013


Synopsis

From the world’s number-one bestselling crime writer comes the extraordinary new Kay Scarpetta novel. 

Massachusetts Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta has just returned from working one of the worst mass murders in U.S. history when she’s awakened at an early hour by Detective Pete Marino.

A body, oddly draped in an unusual cloth, has just been discovered inside the sheltered gates of MIT and it’s suspected the identity is that of missing computer engineer Gail Shipton, last seen the night before at a trendy Cambridge bar. It appears she’s been murdered, mere weeks before the trial of her $100 million lawsuit against her former financial managers, and Scarpetta doubts it’s a coincidence. She also fears the case may have a connection with her computer genius niece, Lucy.

At a glance there is no sign of what killed Gail Shipton, but she’s covered with a fine dust that under ultraviolet light fluoresces brilliantly in three vivid colors, what Scarpetta calls a mineral fingerprint. Clearly the body has been posed with chilling premeditation that is symbolic and meant to shock, and Scarpetta has reason to worry that the person responsible is the Capital Murderer, whose most recent sexual homicides have terrorized Washington, D.C. Stunningly, Scarpetta will discover that her FBI profiler husband, Benton Wesley, is convinced that certain people in the government, including his boss, don’t want the killer caught. 

In Dust, Scarpetta and her colleagues are up against a force far more sinister than a sexual predator who fits the criminal classification of a “spectacle killer.” The murder of Gail Shipton soon leads deep into the dark world of designer drugs, drone technology, organized crime, and shocking corruption at the highest levels.

With unparalleled high-tension suspense and the latest in forensic technology, Patricia Cornwell once again proves her exceptional ability to surprise—and to thrill.

About Patricia Cornwell

Patricia Cornwell is a Miami born, contemporary crime novelist. Her books usually feature the heroine Dr. Kay Scarpetta, who is a medical examiner. After a way sad childhood, Cornwall graduated from Davidson College with a degree in English. She wrote a biography of a family friend entitled, “A Time for Remembering”, then renamed “Ruth, A Portrait: The Story of Ruth Bell Graham” in 1983. After working in a Virginia medical examiners for six years, she wrote the first installment of her “Scarpetta” series entitled “Postmortem”. Her six year job was valuable in including a lot of forensic science details in her “Scarpetta” series. Her novels are considered to have influenced the creation of the TV series on forensics such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Cold Case. In the same vein Cornwell made a brief appearance on the Criminal Minds episode “True Genius”, as herself.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Angie on November 18, 2013

Why do I keep doing this to myself? The last 10 books have been exactly the same. Every man "wants" the beautiful and smart Scarpetta. The bizarre killings/crimes are always committed to impress or taunt Scarpetta, Benton or Lucy. Scarpetta is always hungry but never has time to eat. Lucy has a new......more

Goodreads review by Barbara on January 28, 2025

In this 21st book in the 'Kay Scarpetta' series, the medical examiner is on the trail of a sadistic murderer. The book can be read as a standalone, but familiarity with the series is a bonus. ***** Medical examiner Kay Scarpetta has an abundance of troubles: she's traumatized after the Newtown, Conne......more

Goodreads review by James on January 20, 2019

Dust by Patricia Cornwell is the twenty-first book in the Kay Scarpetta series consisting of about twenty-five (and still counting) novels in the medical and FBI thriller mystery sub-genre. I began reading the novels nearly two decades ago but stopped for a while when I ventured into other genres. I......more

Goodreads review by Karla on May 08, 2024

Re Read May 2024 story 3.75 stars** Narrator Kate Reading......more

Goodreads review by Eva on February 08, 2014

This is Patricia Cornwell at her possible worst, if you don't count her immediate, post Jack the Ripper book. This is what most of you want to read, so I have edited my post accordingly. Whatever I have written below this is irrelevant. The books a bomb. It is a terrible read. No one should read thi......more


Quotes

“When it comes to the forensic sciences, nobody can touch Cornwell.”

The New York Times Book Review