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Patricia Cornwell
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The Last Precinct: Scarpetta (Book 11) Mass Market Paperback – July 1, 2001

by Patricia Cornwell (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 5,085
See all formats and editions
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In this #1 New York Times bestselling novel, Patricia Cornwell takes her readers deeper into Kay Scarpetta’s heart and soul than ever before….

Thwarting an attack by a suspected serial killer puts Virginia’s Chief Medial Examiner Kay Scarpetta in the harsh glare of the spotlight. As her personal and professional lives come under suspicion, she discovers that the so-called Werewolf murders may have extended to New York City and into the darkest corners of her past. A formidable prosecutor, a female assistant district attorney from New York, is brought into the case—and Scarpetta must struggle to make what she knows to be the truth prevail against mounting and unnerving evidence to the contrary. Tested in every way, she turns inward to ask, Where do you go when there is nowhere left?
Previous page
  1. Book 11 of 28
    Kay Scarpetta
  2. Print length
    468 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Berkley
  5. Publication date
    July 1, 2001
  6. Dimensions
    4.25 x 1.27 x 7.39 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0425180638
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0425180631
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Ignites on the first page…Cornwell twists escalating violence, unrelenting tension and growing paranoia into a thick rope of horror and unfolding conspiracy. No one depicts the human capability for evil better than she…Cornwell has created a character so real, so compelling, so driven that this reader has to remind herself regularly that Scarpetta is just a product of an author’s imagination.”—USA Today

“Plots within plots, fraught atmosphere and unrelenting suspense keep readers on tenterhooks while one trap after another springs under unwary feet. Cunningly designed, ingeniously laid out, composed with Cornwellian skill, this far-from-the-Last Precinct is a model of the art.”—Los Angeles Times

“The most unexpected of the Kay Scarpetta novels so far…The Last Precinct unfolds deliberately, keeping you in the dark along with Scarpetta so that when the revelations dawn, you’re almost reeling, too. The overwhelming feeling, though, is that Cornwell has the series on the verge of spinning off in a thrilling new direction. The Last Precinct may just be a terrific first step toward something even more exhilarating.”—The Miami Herald

“One of Ms. Cornwell’s better novels…There are surprises and unexpected plot twists…A page-turner that will engage, surprise, and engross readers to the final page.”—The Richmond Times Dispatch

About the Author

Patricia Cornwell is considered one of the world's bestselling crime writers. Her intrepid medical examiner Kay Scarpetta first appeared on the scene in 1990 with Postmortem—the only novel to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity awards and the French Prix du Roman d'Aventure in a single year—and Cruel and Unusual, which won Britain's prestigious Gold Dagger Award for the best crime novel of 1993. Dr. Kay Scarpetta herself won the 1999 Sherlock Award for the best detective created by an American author. Ms. Cornwell's work is translated into 36 languages across more than 120 countries.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley (July 1, 2001)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 468 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0425180638
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0425180631
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.25 x 1.27 x 7.39 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 5,085

About the author

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Patricia Cornwell

Patricia Cornwell

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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’Aventure prize—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 two other fictional series based on the characters Win Garano and Andy Brazil. While writing Quantum, Cornwell spent two years researching space, technology, and robotics at Captain Calli Chase’s home base, NASA’s Langley Research Center, and studied cutting-edge law enforcement and security techniques with the Secret Service, the US Air Force, NASA Protective Services, Scotland Yard, and Interpol.

Cornwell was born in Miami. She grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston and Los Angeles.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
5,085 global ratings
The Last Precinct
5 Stars
The Last Precinct
Book 11. Hard to put any of them down
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Top reviews from the United States

ralph r
5.0 out of 5 stars Dr Kay
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2024
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enjoyable to read
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mel
4.0 out of 5 stars Must read Black Notice recently to enjoy
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2024
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This plot won't make sense unless you read Black Notice and it's fresh in your mind. The plot is heavy. I enjoyed it, but I'm still putting it all together after finishing it. Intense.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Another great Scarlett
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2024
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Very complex case with lots of twists and turned connecting all the various people and places to the multiple really bad guys.
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rosekrystofolski
5.0 out of 5 stars Eleventh Book in The Scarpetta Series
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2023
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Wonderful Eleventh Book in The Scarpetta Series. This book is about the aftermath of Jean Baptiste Chandonne's attempt to bludgeon Kay Scarpetta to death. He arrived at her house, lied his way in and tried to attack her, but before he could attack her with his chipping hammer she ran away, picked up the container with a tattoo from his brother Thomas, who he murdered and splashed formalin in his eyes and then ran for help while he tried to clean the caustic chemicals out of his eyes. Unfortunately they only found the chipping hammer brought by Chandonne to her house and not the one Scarpetta purchased so she is being investigated for the murder of Diane Bray, who had been doing everything possible to harass her, and they brought down a special prosecutor from New York, Jaime Berger, to interview her and pursue the case against her.
One person found this helpful
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Leyla
5.0 out of 5 stars Have I cried?
Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2023
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I’ve stayed past my bedtime for Dr Scarpetta. I follow Mrs Cornwell on Twitter; she has liked some of my posts. I mean, what else can I say? Patricia Cornwell is one of those authors whose books I’d pick blindfolded, without a doubt, any day. She is the author I’d rather read on my sofa than do any other house chore. Un put down able
2 people found this helpful
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Cami Hedrick
3.0 out of 5 stars "...rather much..."
Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2023
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That over-used phrase has got to go. It's actually become distracting.
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Susan Vrabel-Williams
4.0 out of 5 stars TLP
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2022
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I read this when it was first published, over twenty years ago. It's nice being reacquainted with Dr. Kay Scarpetta, along with Pete Marino, Lucy Farinelli, and all the other "regulars."
The storyline is solid and really creepy, the characters are believable and well described. There are some slow parts that are just a bit wordy....but all in all, a good book!
5 people found this helpful
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Tina Morris
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding suspense and excellent writing
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2000
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Patricia Cornwell's last book "Black Notice" left me, as many of her other fans, a bit disappointed. There was less of the usual complexity, the unexpected twists and turns in the plot, the richness of the characters. Like her heroine, Kay Scarpetta, the reader had not recovered from Benton Wesley's death, and Black Notice offered no relief, not many explanations and no insight into Kay's dealing with the loss of her lover. In "the last precinct" we finally get all of the above and much more. It is a very gratifying book on every level. We find out many new sides to Kay's character and revisit her relationship with Wesley on the backgound of a harrowing tale that picks up where the last book left off. It seamlessly leads us into a complex darkness we suspected but did not find in "Black Notice" where solutions seemed too obvious to be really true. As the story races on and we are drawn in deeper and deeper we realize that "Black Notice" was really the beginning of another great multi-novel story as Cornwell has crafted before when she created the evil Temple Gault character, Kay's nightmare that ended in a NY subway. Cornwell also skillfully builds new charcters on the good side of events: there is the prosecutor from New York and the psychiatrist friend who we will undoubtedly meet again. At the end of this extremely involving and suspenseful story we are once more, as in her best books so far, left craving for more and wondering where Kay will go next and what darkness lies around the corner.
16 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Rock&Ecc
5.0 out of 5 stars definitely doesn’t disappoint
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2023
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I love the character building of the sub story and I love the story line too wow!!! Just wow! I love how several books come together to make clearer a larger story!! Keep them coming Patricia Cornwell!!! Glad I still have 15 left to read before I run out haha
One person found this helpful
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Bento Jose Pereira Lira
5.0 out of 5 stars muito bom
Reviewed in Brazil on October 30, 2020
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muito bom
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Origpic
5.0 out of 5 stars Multinational crime horror in the hands of an expert
Reviewed in Canada on November 28, 2019
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This is a very cleverly plotted novel with multiple strands coming together after Kay Scarpetta, the Chief Medical Examiner autopsies a decaying corpse in a ship in Richmond’s port.
The trail started by the corpse takes Scarpetta to Interpol in France and back to Richmond as she tries to discover how a misformed man with a congenital disease brutally kills women and so far, has got away with it.
As the story develops in links to a French crime family, dealings in drugs and guns, bad police agents, incompetent law enforcement to the point that Kay herself is before a Grand Jury.
Kay, as ever, is forceful and foolish, sleeping with a man for no good reason, taking risks, being lonely, and at times, frightened.
Most of all it provides a glimpse into how a see,ingot real, powerful woman thinks and feels, revealed when and
Kay talks about herself to a friend and reveals her deepest thoughts and feelings. More than anything, the novel is a glimpse into the soul of a real woman, complete with flaws, desire, doubt and drive.
Some of the plot points don’t quite add up and occasionally the coincidences and twists seem a little much, but that’s a minor criticism for work that takes the reader into the heart of a story it’s impossible to leave.
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Mickey
5.0 out of 5 stars Detailed
Reviewed in Spain on June 6, 2019
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The story very intense and completely detailed
Lots of technical information, verging on a little too much for me
Thoroughly enjoyed it
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Chez
5.0 out of 5 stars Brain snapper.
Reviewed in Australia on September 11, 2023
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Wow, I am overwhelmed by this novel. For so much content in it, the ending was so simple. Great work. Great read.
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