Identity Unknown cover art

Identity Unknown

The gripping new Kay Scarpetta thriller for 2024

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Identity Unknown

By: Patricia Cornwell
Narrated by: January LaVoy
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About this listen

 THE THRILLING NEW KAY SCARPETTA MYSTERY FROM THE WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER - SOON TO BE AN ORIGINAL SERIES ON PRIME VIDEO
'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, author of Sunday Times bestseller 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 a man she once loved. While teaching in Rome during the early days of her career, Scarpetta had a love affair with acclaimed astrophysicist Sal Giordano that led to a lifelong friendship.

The murder scene is bizarre, with a crop circle of petals around the body, and Giordano's skin is strangely red. Scarpetta's niece Lucy believes he was dropped from an unidentified flying craft. Scarpetta knows an autopsy 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 . . .

DISCOVER THE SERIES THAT SHAPED THE WORLD OF CRIME FICTION
'One of the best crime writers writing today' Guardian

'Thirty years on, there's still no other crime writer like her' Sunday Times

'Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns' Mirror

'In a league of her own' Heat Crime Crime Thrillers Genre Fiction Medical Suspense Thriller & Suspense Exciting Murder

Critic Reviews

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
PRAISE FOR PATRICIA CORNWELL
One of the best crime writers writing today
Astonishing . . . Thirty years on, there's still no other crime writer like her
The top gun in this field
America's most stimulating and chilling writer of crime fiction
Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns
A pioneer of the genre of forensic psychological thriller
The Agatha Christie of the DNA age
The queen of the forensic thriller
Cutting-edge
When it comes to forensic sciences, nobody can touch Cornwell
Slick, fast-paced and brilliant
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
Another heart-stopping read
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
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
PRAISE FOR PATRICIA CORNWELL (-)
Thirty years on, there's still no other crime writer like her
Cornwell really is in a league of her own
One of the all-time greats of this genre
All stars
Most relevant
I love all of Patricia Cornwell’s books. I have been following her series for over 28 years.

Love it.

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Another excellent story with unusual plot twists. . All the favourite characters return . I strongly suggest her whole series is read in the original sequence or else this plot would not make sense .

Scarpetta excels Again

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Brilliant had me on the edge of my seat. Story was intriguing and very current

Identity Unknown

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A little off kilter - it is a Scarpetta book but one with less depth. The story is ok, bit strange but alright. I suppose the theme of 'you have the right to know this, when we decide you have the right' is too aligned to real life, and what l hear when listening to American politics. Now that someone has got in, goodness knows what will be reflected in the next book, l for one, will await the reviews. lol.

A little of kilter

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Interesting enough story but became somewhat predictable after half way through the book. Still enjoyed it though.

Easy listen, somewhat predictable

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