Cornwell, Patricia Daniels

Patricia Cornwell (1956- ) is a contemporary American crime writer. She is best known for her Scarpetta crime series. She enjoyed an early career as a journalist covering crime for the Charlotte Observer, then as a technical writer for the office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia. In 1990 she published her first Scarpetta novel, Postmortem., the first of her many successful novels. In 2002, Cornwell published Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed in which she put forth her theory that the British artist Walter Sickert (1860-1942) was responsible for the Ripper murders. She purchased many of the original documents used as source material for the book.

From the guide to the Patricia Cornwell collection, 1841-1999, 1860-1940, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)