Identity Unknown
The gripping new Kay Scarpetta thriller for 2024
Published on 17. July 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
400 pages
978-1-4087-3259-5 (ISBN)
Description
THE THRILLING NEW KAY SCARPETTA MYSTERY FROM THE WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER
'Iconic. Bold. Brilliant. Identity Unknown is hauntingly original, impossibly clever and devilishly daring. This series is one of the all-time greats' CHRIS WHITAKER, author of ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK
Summoned to an unnerving, abandoned theme park to retrieve a body, Dr Kay Scarpetta is devastated to learn that the victim is Sal Giordano, an acclaimed astrophysicist - and a man Scarpetta once loved.
The murder scene is bizarre, with a crop circle of petals around the body. Scarpetta's niece Lucy believes Giordano was dropped from an unidentified flying craft. Scarpetta knows autopsies can reveal the dead's secrets, but she is shocked to find her friend seems to have deliberately left her a clue.
As the investigators are torn between suspicions of otherworldly forces, and of Giordano himself, Scarpetta detects an explanation closer to home that, in her mind, is far more evil . . .
The next book in the Scarpetta series is Sharp Force. And don't miss True Crime, Patricia Cornwell's jaw-dropping memoir - available now.
'Nerve-jangling . . . A thriller that's out of this world' THE TIMES
'Heart-stopping' SUNDAY POST
'Cornwell on vintage form' FINANCIAL TIMES
'Iconic. Bold. Brilliant. Identity Unknown is hauntingly original, impossibly clever and devilishly daring. This series is one of the all-time greats' CHRIS WHITAKER, author of ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK
Summoned to an unnerving, abandoned theme park to retrieve a body, Dr Kay Scarpetta is devastated to learn that the victim is Sal Giordano, an acclaimed astrophysicist - and a man Scarpetta once loved.
The murder scene is bizarre, with a crop circle of petals around the body. Scarpetta's niece Lucy believes Giordano was dropped from an unidentified flying craft. Scarpetta knows autopsies can reveal the dead's secrets, but she is shocked to find her friend seems to have deliberately left her a clue.
As the investigators are torn between suspicions of otherworldly forces, and of Giordano himself, Scarpetta detects an explanation closer to home that, in her mind, is far more evil . . .
The next book in the Scarpetta series is Sharp Force. And don't miss True Crime, Patricia Cornwell's jaw-dropping memoir - available now.
'Nerve-jangling . . . A thriller that's out of this world' THE TIMES
'Heart-stopping' SUNDAY POST
'Cornwell on vintage form' FINANCIAL TIMES
Reviews / Votes
PRAISE FOR UNNATURAL DEATH * - * A chilling, thrilling, macabre masterpiece. Unnatural Death is Patricia Cornwell at her mesmerising finest. The best just got better -- CHRIS WHITAKER Sinister, surprising and utterly unputdownable. Cornwell at her brilliant best -- M. J. ARLIDGE 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 An especially good entry in the series * BOOKLIST * PRAISE FOR PATRICIA CORNWELL * - * One of the best crime writers writing today * GUARDIAN * Astonishing . . . Thirty years on, there's still no other crime writer like her * SUNDAY TIMES * The top gun in this field * DAILY TELEGRAPH * America's most stimulating and chilling writer of crime fiction * THE TIMES * Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns * MIRROR * A pioneer of the genre of forensic psychological thriller * BBC * The Agatha Christie of the DNA age * EXPRESS * The queen of the forensic thriller * MAIL ON SUNDAY * Cutting-edge * SUN * When it comes to forensic sciences, nobody can touch Cornwell * NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW * Slick, fast-paced and brilliant * HEAT * Iconic. Bold. Brilliant. Identity Unknown is hauntingly original, impossibly clever and devilishly daring. Scalpel-sharp storytelling, trademark twists and characters that feel like family, this series is one of the all-time greats -- CHRIS WHITAKER Combines nerve-jangling tension with stomach-turning physical detail . . . A thriller that's out of this world * THE TIMES * Another heart-stopping read * SUNDAY POST * Scarpetta is one of the best known heroines in crime fiction . . . Here Cornwell gives her some humanity in that she is called to examine the corpse of a man with whom she had an intense affair many year ago * DAILY MAIL * Cornwell has been one of most reliable crime-fiction practitioners since Postmortem in 1990 introduced her forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta. Identity Unknown has Scarpetta investigating a murder and finding to her horror that the victim is a man she was once in love with - and who seems to have left her a clue. Cornwell on vintage form * FINANCIAL TIMES * PRAISE FOR PATRICIA CORNWELL -- - Thirty years on, there's still no other crime writer like her * SUNDAY TIMES * One of the best crime writers writing today * GUARDIAN * Cornwell really is in a league of her own * HEAT * One of the all-time greats of this genre * SUN * Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns * MIRROR * The top gun in this field * DAILY TELEGRAPH * America's most stimulating and chilling writer of crime fiction * THE TIMES * The Agatha Christie of the DNA age * EXPRESS * The queen of the forensic thriller * MAIL ON SUNDAY *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Little, Brown Book Group
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
276 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4087-3259-5 (9781408732595)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2024
Sphere
€5.99
Available for download
Person
In 1990, Patricia Cornwell sold her first novel, Postmortem, while working at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. An auspicious debut, it went on to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity Awards, as well as the French Prix du Roman d'Aventures - the first book ever to claim all these distinctions in a single year. Growing into an international phenomenon, the Scarpetta series won Cornwell the Sherlock Award for best detective created by an American author, the Gold Dagger Award, the RBA Thriller Award, and the Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters for her contributions to literary and artistic development.
Today, Cornwell's novels and iconic characters are known around the world. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Cornwell has written the definitive nonfiction account of Jack the Ripper's identity, cookbooks, a children's book, a biography of Ruth Graham, and three other fictional series based on the characters Win Garano, Andy Brazil, and Captain Callie Chase. Cornwell continues exploring the latest space-age technologies and threats relevant to contemporary life. Her interests range from the morgue to artificial intelligence and include visits to Interpol, the Pentagon, the U.S. Secret Service and NASA.
Cornwell was born in Miami. She grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston.
Today, Cornwell's novels and iconic characters are known around the world. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Cornwell has written the definitive nonfiction account of Jack the Ripper's identity, cookbooks, a children's book, a biography of Ruth Graham, and three other fictional series based on the characters Win Garano, Andy Brazil, and Captain Callie Chase. Cornwell continues exploring the latest space-age technologies and threats relevant to contemporary life. Her interests range from the morgue to artificial intelligence and include visits to Interpol, the Pentagon, the U.S. Secret Service and NASA.
Cornwell was born in Miami. She grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston.