Black Notice

The tenth book in the Kay Scarpetta series, from No. 1 bestselling author Patricia Cornwell.

'America's most chilling writer of crime fiction' The Times

When a cargo ship pulls in to Richmond, USA, from Belgium, its soon discovered to be transporting a locked, sealed container holding the decomposed remains of a stowaway.

The postmortem performed by the Chief Medical Examiner, Kay Scarpetta, initially reveals neither a cause of death nor an identification. But the victim's personal effects and an odd tattoo take Scarpetta on a hunt for information that leads to Interpol's headquarters in Lyon, where she receives critical instructions: go to the Paris morgue to receive secret evidence and then return to Virginia to carry out a mission.

It's a mission that could ruin her career.

Praise for Patricia Cornwell

'Slick, fast-paced and brilliant' Heat

'Cutting-edge' Sun

'A pioneer of the genre of forensic psychological thriller' BBC

'America's most stimulating and chilling writer of crime fiction' The Times

'Devilishly clever' Sunday Times

'She is a brilliant writer and I was absolutely gripped' Mail on Sunday

'The top gun in this field' Daily Telegraph

'Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns' Mirror

'The Agatha Christie of the DNA age' Express

'One of the best crime writers writing today' Guardian

'Few writers match Patricia Cornwell when it comes to writing crime and her latest Scarpetta novel is one of her best' Daily Express

'When it comes to the forensic sciences, nobody can touch Cornwell' New York Times Book Review