The Recurring Cast
Character guide · 29 books · 1990 to 2025 · Set in Richmond, Virginia

Patricia Cornwell

Crime and mysteryForensic

Kay Scarpetta, chief medical examiner, works with investigator Pete Marino, FBI profiler Benton Wesley and her niece Lucy. The series moves from Richmond, Virginia to Florida, New York and Cambridge, Massachusetts and back.

Best estimate, compiled from series guides, publisher descriptions and reviews where available, and from memory otherwise. Book level only, not chapter level. Minor includes cameos and brief references. Each book carries a confidence rating in its tooltip. Rapid and Fatal (2027) is not yet out. The Andy Brazil and Win Garano books and Cornwell’s Captain Chase novels are left out.

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Who appears in which book

Click a name to follow that character from book to book, or a book title to see its cast.

LLeadMMajor·MinorHas a note
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Patricia Cornwell books in order

Each series in publication order, with its lead characters. Where the story runs in a different order, switch to Story order. Crossover books are marked and listed under their main series. Use My books to track what you have read.

Kay Scarpetta

29 books · Set in Richmond, VirginiaForensic
  1. 1Postmortem1990With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  2. 2Body of Evidence1991With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  3. 3All That Remains1992With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  4. 4Cruel and Unusual1993With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  5. 5The Body Farm1994With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  6. 6From Potter’s Field1995With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  7. 7Cause of Death1996With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  8. 8Unnatural Exposure1997With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  9. 9Point of Origin1998With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  10. 10Black Notice1999With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  11. 11The Last Precinct2000With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  12. 12Blow Fly2003With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  13. 13Trace2004With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  14. 14Predator2005With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  15. 15Book of the Dead2007With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  16. 16Scarpetta2008With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  17. 17The Scarpetta Factor2009With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  18. 18Port Mortuary2010With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  19. 19Red Mist2011With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  20. 20The Bone Bed2012With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  21. 21Dust2013With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  22. 22Flesh and Blood2014With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  23. 23Depraved Heart2015With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  24. 24Chaos2016With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  25. 25Autopsy2021With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  26. 26Livid2022With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  27. 27Unnatural Death2023With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  28. 28Identity Unknown2024With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon
  29. 29Sharp Force2025With Kay ScarpettaBuy on Amazon

Characters

9 recurring and key characters, with the book each one first appears in.

Scarpetta and her circle

Killers who return