Little, Brown to publish Patricia Cornwell's new Scarpetta novel in October

Little, Brown Book Group will publish Patricia Cornwell’s next book, Identity Unknown, with Grand Central Publishing (GCP), a division of Hachette Book Group.

Karen Kosztolnyik, GCP editorial director of fiction, acquired world rights directly from the author. Catherine Burke, deputy managing director of Little, Brown and executive publisher for commercial, will be working with Sphere Fiction deputy publisher Tilda Key on the UK publication. 

Simultaneous English-language publication is planned across hardback, e-book and audio editions, with the UK edition going on sale on 10th October 2024.  

In the new instalment of the Kay Scarpetta series, Nobel laureate and adviser to the White House Sal Giordano is found dead in the middle of an abandoned theme park. “When Virginia’s chief medical examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta is alerted about the case, she’s warned that the victim is someone she knows,” the publisher said. “When she hears who it is, she’s devastated. While teaching in Rome for a summer during the early days of her career, she met Giordano.

“What began as an intense love affair evolved into a lifelong friendship, and now he’s suddenly and bizarrely dead. Scarpetta’s niece Lucy, a Secret Service investigator, says that it appears he was dropped out of an unidentified flying craft, his skin red from some type of radiation. When Scarpetta conducts the autopsy, she finds yet another inexplicable surprise. While it becomes increasingly suspicious that otherworldly forces could be responsible for Giordano’s death, she detects the presence of a more likely earthbound explanation that in her mind is far more evil.” 

Burke said: “A new Kay Scarpetta book from Patricia Cornwell is a huge event and we are thrilled to announce publication plans for Patricia’s latest completely brilliant and unputdownable novel. The whole team at Little, Brown is so excited for readers across the world to dive into the brilliant Identity Unknown.” 

Cornwell added: “I can’t wait for Scarpetta fans, both diehards and new, to follow her in this latest adventure.”