Patricia Cornwell moves back to Little, Brown for 26th Scarpetta novel

Patricia Cornwell is moving from HarperCollins to Little, Brown with her new Kay Scarpetta thriller Livid, which will be published in October 2022

The deal for world rights in the 26th Scarpetta novel was signed with Grand Central Publishing (GCP), a division of Hachette Book Group. It will be published in hardback, e-book and audio editions on 25th October.  

Cath Burke, deputy m.d. of Little, Brown Book Group and executive publisher at Sphere, will be working with Sphere editorial director Tilda McDonald on the UK publication. For GCP, Ben Sevier, senior vice-president and publisher, acquired the book, with Karen Kosztolnyik, editorial director for fiction, editing. Burke and Ben Sevier acquired world rights directly from the author.

The first 21 Scarpetta novels were published by Little, Brown before Cornwell moved to HarperCollins for the most recent titles, with Autopsy published in autumn 2021.

Livid follows the chief medical examiner after she inherits one of the most notorious cases of her career. Two years after the body of a former beauty queen washed up on the shore of Wallops Island, Virginia, Scarpetta must act as the expert witness for the case—an investigation botched by another forensic pathologist. After a gruelling cross-examination by the prosecutor, Scarpetta leaves the court only to discover that the sister of the judge on her case has been found dead. The heroine ultimately finds herself facing a powerful, invisible enemy who is planning the unthinkable. 

Burke said: “Like millions of others, I’m hooked on Patricia Cornwell’s writing, and the return of Kay Scarpetta is such a thrill for myself and the team at Little, Brown. We are so proud to be the home of the first 21 incredible Kay Scarpetta novels and are all delighted to be reuniting with Patricia for publication of Livid, her 26th novel in the series.” 

Sevier commented: “There are a very few fictional characters who are so beloved that they seem almost to walk among us, and Patricia Cornwell’s Dr Kay Scarpetta has to be at the top of that short list. Scarpetta’s return has been a momentous cultural occasion and Grand Central is delighted to be working with Patricia on this next chapter of Scarpetta’s journey.” 

Cornwell said: “I’m beyond thrilled to place Scarpetta in Hachette’s capable hands as I relaunch the series.” 

She is known as one of the world’s foremost crime authors, with novels translated into 36 languages in more than 120 countries.  She has sold 9.4 million books in the UK for £62.9m, according to Nielsen BookScan. 

Her novels have won prestigious awards including the  Edgar, the Creasey, the Prix du Roman d’Aventure, the Sherlock, the Galaxy National Book Award and the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger.  In addition to the Scarpetta series, Cornwell has written a book about Jack the Ripper and three other fiction series. Cornwell is a licensed helicopter pilot and scuba diver and she is known for actively researching the technologies that inform her work.