New York Times bestselling novelist Patricia Daniels Cornwell is the only woman in the United States to receive England's coveted Gold Dagger, widely considered to be the most prestigious crime-writing award in the world.

Patricia Cornwell was born early in June 1956 in Miami, Florida to Marilyn ("Pat") and Sam Daniels. Her father was an appellate attorney, her mother a secretary. She was raised there as well as in North Carolina. She graduated in 1979 with a degree in literature and was both a crime reporter as well as worked for more than six years as a computer analyst in the chief medical examiner's office in Virginia, where she witnessed hundreds of autopsies and even assisted as a "scribe," recording the measurements of the wounds of murder victims. During that time, she also was a volunteer with the Richmond Police Department, and has spent time with law enforcement around the world.

Those experiences inspired her to create Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a tenacious chief medical examiner who tracks serial killers with the help of a streetwise cop, Pete Marino, and an FBI profiler, Benton Wesley.

Cornwell, a fan of firearms and fast cars, clearly recalls the day her father walked out on his family for his pregnant secretary. The future author, 7 years old, was hanging onto his leg at the time. She soon moved with her mother and brother to Montreat, North Carolina, just two miles down the road from the Rev. Billy Graham and his wife, Ruth. At one point, Cornwell's mother was so desperate that she tried to "give" her kids to the Grahams. Ruth Graham responded by befriending the young Patricia, encouraging her to write. (Later, in 1983, Cornwell wrote her first book, A Time For Remembering, Mrs. Graham's biography.)

While a student at Davidson College in North Carolina, Cornwell met her future husband, Charles Cornwell, 17 years her senior, who also happened to be her English professor. They wed when she was 24 and he was 41. (The 10-year marriage ended in divorce in 1989.) Among the experiences and challenges in her life, Cornwell has numbered anorexia and bulimia, manic depression, a rape by a law enforcement officer when she was a young crime reporter, and, in 1983, a car wreck when she was driving while intoxicated. Cornwell calls the accident "a necessary experience" that eventually led her to alcohol rehab. She lives with her dog Chopper and splits her time between Richmond, Virginia and Los Angeles.

Between 1984 and 1986, Cornwell wrote three novels based on her crime desk experience, but all were rejected. Disheartened, she wrote to Sara Ann Freed, an editor at Mysterious Press, the one publishing house that had softened its rejection with encouragement. Freed told her to dump the male detective who was then her central character. She suggested expanding Scarpetta, who in Cornwell's early works played only a minor role.

Cornwell's first Kay Scarpetta book, Postmortem (1990), is the only novel ever to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony and Macavity awards, as well as the French Prix du Roman d'Aventure in a single year. Her subsequent Scarpetta novels, Body of Evidence (1991), All That Remains (1992), Cruel & Unusual (1993), The Body Farm (1994), From Potter's Field (1995), Cause of Death (1996), Unnatural Exposure (1997), Point of Origin (1998), Black Notice (1999) and The Last Precinct, received critical acclaim and became national and international bestsellers. Her last Kay Scarpetta New York Times bestseller, The Last Precinct, was published in 2000.

Cornwell is also the author of the bestselling Southern Cross (1999), Hornet's Nest (1997), and Ruth, A Portrait: The Story of Ruth Bell Graham (1997), a biography of Ruth Bell Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham. Born in Miami, Florida, Cornwell now divides her time between Richmond, Virginia, and New York. A graduate of Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, Cornwell has continued her ties with the school through scholarships to assist gifted students who are interested in writing.

In October 2001, G.P. Putnam's Sons published Isle of Dogs, a new novel featuring Andy Brazil, and Food To Die For: Secrets from Kay Scarpetta's Kitchen.

She has also published Scarpetta's Winter Table (1998) and Life's Little Fable (1999), and wrote the foreword for What to Do when the Police Leave: A Guide to the First Days of Traumatic Loss, a book from Bill Jenkins.

Her address is Patricia Cornwell Enterprises, P O Box 35763, Richmond, VA 23235. Cornwell Enterprises has offices in Richmond and Los Angeles and have a staff of eight. There is a website too, The Official Patricia Cornwell Web Experience, http://www.patriciacornwell.com/

Selected works:

• A Time For Remembering (1983)
• Postmortem (1990)
• Body of Evidence (1991)
• All That Remains (1992)
• Cruel & Unusual (1993)
• The Body Farm (1994)
• From Potter's Field (1995)
• Cause of Death (1996)
• Unnatural Exposure (1997)
• Hornet's Nest (1997)
• Ruth, A Portrait: The Story of Ruth Bell Graham (1997)
• Point of Origin (1998)
• Scarpetta's Winter Table (1998)
• Black Notice (1999)
• Southern Cross (1999)
• Life's Little Fable (1999)
• The Last Precinct (2000)
• Isle of Dogs (2001)
• Food To Die For: Secrets from Kay Scarpetta's Kitchen (2001)
• Portrait of a Killer (2002)
• Blow Fly (2003)
• Trace (2004)
• Predator (2005)
• At Risk (2006)
• Book of the Dead (2007)

Bibliography:

• Patricia Cornwell: A Reader's Checklist and Reference Guide (1999)
• The Unofficial Patricia Cornwell Companion (2002)