Recommendations based on Cruel & Unusualby Patricia Cornwell

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Postmortem

    by Patricia Daniels Cornwell
    Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner, investigates a serial killer in Richmond, Virginia.

    The novel opens as Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia, receives an early-morning call from Sergeant Pete Marino, a homicide detective at the Richmond Police ... (Wikipedia)

  2. The Body Farm

    by Patricia Cornwell
    A thrilling crime mystery, uncovering the truth behind a series of gruesome murders.

    Kay Scarpetta is called in to assist in the investigation of the brutal murder of 11-year-old Emily Steiner in rural North Carolina , whose murder resembles the handiwork of a serial killer who has ... (Wikipedia)

  3. All That Remains

    by Patricia Cornwell
    Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner, investigates a series of murders with a common thread.

    In Richmond, Virginia, young lovers are dying. So far, four couples in the area have disappeared, only to be found months later as mutilated corpses. When the daughter of the president's newest drug ... (Goodreads)

  4. Body of Evidence

    by Patricia Cornwell
    Crime thriller featuring a female medical examiner investigating a series of murders.

    Kay Scarpetta, chief medical examiner of Virginia, gets involved in the case of a brutal stabbing death in Richmond of romance writer Beryl Madison. Then, Madison's greedy lawyer accuses Scarpetta of ... (Wikipedia)

  5. Along Came a Spider

    by James Patterson
    A detective races against time to solve a kidnapper's twisted game.

    What have we got? A missing little girl named Maggie Rose . . . a family of three brutally murdered in the projects of Washington, D.C. . . . the thrill-killing of a beautiful elementary school ... (Goodreads)

  6. 1st to Die

    by James Patterson
    Four female friends team up to catch a killer preying on newlyweds.

    Four crime-solving friends face off against a killer in San Francisco in the Women's Murder Club novel that started James Patterson's thrilling series. Each one holds a piece of the puzzle: Lindsay ... (Goodreads)

  7. The Client

    by John Grisham
    A young boy is thrust into a legal battle, as he tries to protect himself and his family.

    Boyd Boyette, a United States Senator from Louisiana, goes missing. Because of his vocal opposition to a proposed major toxic landfill project by a company known to be Mafia-backed, murder is ... (Wikipedia)

  8. The Bone Collector

    by Jeffery Deaver
    A detective and a forensic specialist race against time to stop a serial killer.

    Lincoln Rhyme was once a brilliant criminologist, a genius in the field of forensics – until an accident left him physically and emotionally shattered. But now a diabolical killer is challenging ... (Goodreads)

  9. Kiss the Girls

    by James Patterson
    Detective Alex Cross races against time to stop a serial killer from abducting more victims.

    As a teenage boy in 1975 Boca Raton , Florida , a future serial killer calling himself Casanova kills his first four victims. Elsewhere in 1981 Chapel Hill , North Carolina , another killer calling ... (Wikipedia)

  10. The Pelican Brief

    by John Grisham
    A law student's investigation into a political assassination, uncovering a deadly conspiracy.

    The story begins with the assassinations of two ideologically divergent Supreme Court Justices. Both murders are committed by Khamel, the most wanted hitman in the world. Justice Rosenberg, a ... (Wikipedia)

  11. When the Bough Breaks

    by Jonathan Kellerman
    A detective unravels the secrets of a mysterious murder in Los Angeles.

    The first Alex Delaware novel. It's a good one! We meet Dr. Morton Handler who practiced a strange brand of psychiatry. Among his specialties were fraud, extortion, and sexual manipulation. Handler ... (Goodreads)

  12. Monday Mourning

    by Kathy Reichs
    Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan investigates a series of murders involving young girls in Montreal.

    The plot of the story revolves around Brennan trying to decipher the clues left behind by the skeletons of three girls found in a pizza parlor basement in Montreal, Quebec , Canada, which has a ... (Wikipedia)

  13. Déjà Dead

    by Kathy Reichs
    An action-packed mystery featuring a female forensic anthropologist as she investigates a series of mysterious murders.

    When the meticulously dismembered body of a woman is discovered in the ground of an abandoned monastery in Montreal , Canada , which is too "decomposed for standard autopsy ", an anthropologist is ... (Wikipedia)

  14. Fatal Voyage

    by Kathy Reichs
    A cold case is reopened, leading to a thrilling web of secrets and murder.

    A plane crash in the mountains of North Carolina and an unidentified severed foot found in the vicinity lead Brennan and would-be lover Detective Andrew Ryan to investigate a mysterious cult. The ... (Wikipedia)

  15. Killing Floor

    by Lee Child
    An ex-military cop is thrust into a dangerous criminal underworld to solve the murder of a woman.

    Jack Reacher gets off a Greyhound bus in the town of Margrave, Georgia , because he remembers his brother mentioning that a blues musician named Blind Blake had died there. Much to his surprise, ... (Wikipedia)

  16. The Surgeon

    by Tess Gerritsen
    A serial killer is on the loose in Boston, targeting young women. Detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles race to catch the killer before he strikes again.

    A terrifying new serial killer begins stalking the streets of Boston , using his vast medical knowledge to systematically torture and kill vulnerable women, a modus operandi which has earned him the ... (Wikipedia)

  17. J is for Judgment

    by Sue Grafton
    Amateur detective Kinsey Millhone investigates a murder with a tangled web of suspects.

    July 1984 contains two surprises for Kinsey Millhone, both connected to her past. First, California Fidelity Insurance reappears in her life in the form of Mac Voorhies, who wants her help with a ... (Wikipedia)

  18. M is for Malice

    by Sue Grafton
    Kinsey Millhone is on the hunt for a killer as she investigates the mysterious disappearance of a woman.

    In January 1986, Tasha Howard hires her cousin Kinsey Millhone to find an heir of the wealthy Malek family. When patriarch Bader Malek died, everyone assumed his $40 million estate would be split ... (Wikipedia)

  19. The Testament

    by John Grisham
    A billionaire's will creates a legal battle between his descendants and the townspeople who have been displaced.

    In a plush Virginia office, a rich, angry old man is furiously rewriting his will. With his death just hours away, Troy Phelan wants to send a message to his children, his ex-wives, and his minions, ... (Goodreads)

  20. A is for Alibi

    by Sue Grafton
    Private investigator unravels the case of a murdered woman, uncovering a web of lies and deceit.

    Kinsey Millhone , 32, private detective investigates the death of prominent divorce lawyer Laurence Fife. His murder eight years earlier was blamed on his wife, Nikki Fife. Upon being released from ... (Wikipedia)

  21. The Complete Stories and Poems

    by Edgar Allan Poe
    A collection of dark and mysterious stories and poems, exploring the depths of the human condition.

    This single volume brings together all of Poe's stories and poems, and illuminates the diverse and multifaceted genius of one of the greatest and most influential figures in American literary ... (Barnes & Noble)

  22. A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings

    by Charles Dickens
    A collection of Christmas stories, including the classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his redemption.

    An alternate cover for this isbn can be found, here,. 'Merry Christmas!...every idiot who goes about with "Merry Christmas" on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding' Dickens' story of ... (Goodreads)

  23. Pet Sematary

    by Stephen King
    A family's terrifying journey of life and death, as the line between the living and the dead blurs.

    Louis Creed, a doctor from Chicago , is appointed director of the University of Maine 's campus health service. He moves to a large house near the small town of Ludlow with his wife Rachel, their two ... (Wikipedia)

  24. Eye of the Needle

    by Ken Follett
    A thrilling tale of espionage and wartime romance, set in the chaos of WWII.

    In 1940, Henry Faber, a German spy nicknamed 'die Nadel' ('The Needle') due to his trademark weapon being a stiletto , is working at a London railway depot, collecting information on troop movements. ... (Wikipedia)

  25. Evil at Heart

    by Chelsea Cain
    Detective Archie Sheridan and serial killer Gretchen Lowell continue their twisted relationship as a new killer emerges in Portland.

    Chelsea Cain’s novels featuring Portland detective Archie Sheridan and serial killer Gretchen Lowell have captivated fans through two nail-biting entries, Heartsick and Sweetheart , both of them ... (Goodreads)

  26. The Poet

    by Michael Connelly
    A Pulitzer Prize-winning poet's descent into darkness, as he unravels a web of deceit and murder.

    Denver crime-beat reporter Jack McEvoy specializes in violent death. So when his homicide detective brother kills himself, McEvoy copes in the only way he knows how–he decides to write the story. But ... (Goodreads)

  27. The Neighbor

    by Lisa Gardner
    A relentless pursuit of justice as a detective investigates a deadly home invasion.

    From a master of suspense comes a chilling new novel that explores the dangers lurking closer than you think. Because even in the perfect family, you never know what is going on behind closed ... (Goodreads)

  28. Live to Tell

    by Lisa Gardner
    A gripping thriller following a detective on the hunt for a serial killer.

    A savage crime has rocked a working-class neighbourhood of Boston; four members of a family have been brutally murdered. The father is lying in an intensive care unit, his survival in doubt. He is ... (Goodreads)

  29. The Lion

    by Nelson DeMille
    An elite team of U.S. forces battle to bring down a dangerous terrorist in the Middle East.

    In this follow-up to The Lion's Game, John Corey, former NYPD Homicide detective and special agent for the Anti-Terrorist Task Force, is back. And, unfortunately for Corey, so is Asad Khalil, the ... (Goodreads)

  30. Ice Cold

    by Tess Gerritsen
    A murder investigation takes a dark turn as a detective uncovers secrets from her past.

    In Wyoming for a medical conference, Boston medical examiner Maura Isles joins a group of friends on a spur-of-the-moment ski trip. But when their SUV stalls on a snow-choked mountain road, they're ... (Goodreads)