Cruel And Unusual

Written by Patricia Cornwell

Narrated by Kate Burton

When convicted killer Ronnie Joe Waddell is executed in Virginia's electric chair, he becomes what should be a routine case for Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta. But after Waddell's execution, everyone connected to him begins to die—including a member of Scarpetta's staff. When crucial records disappear from her files, Scarpetta comes under fire for incomeptence. Caught in a web of political intrigue, she must fight to free herself from murderous insinuations and threats to her own life. She soon finds herself retracing Waddell's bloody footprints, following a trail that might lead to long-hidden secrets deep within the state government. Either the truth will set her free—or unleash upon her a punishment both cruel and unusual.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Little, Brown (Hachette UK) Audio
• Release date: Nov 6, 2008
• ISBN: 9781405504140

Patricia Cornwell

Patricia Cornwell is recognized as one of the world’s top bestselling crime authors with novels translated into thirty-six languages in more than 120 countries. Her novels have won numerous prestigious awards including the Edgar, the Creasey, the Anthony, the Macavity, and the Prix du Roman d’Aventure. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Patricia has written a definitive book about Jack the Ripper, a biography, and three more fiction series among others. Cornwell, a licensed helicopter pilot and scuba diver, actively researches the forensic technologies that inform her work. She was born in Miami, grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston. 

Reviews for Cruel And Unusual

[elizabethcromb · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Another good read. Complex plot about a man on death row, the woman he murdered 10 years earlier and the efforts of people in power to hide their story. Bit gruesome in places but PC obvious researches things very thoroughly.

[jonimfisher · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Terrific characters, fast pace, and snappy dialogue make this a page-turner. Now I am eager to read the rest of the series!

[eyejaybee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Patricia Cornwell’s early novels featuring Dr Klay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Virginia, were great commercial and critical successes. They combined detailed insight into forensic procedures with well-constructed plots and highly plausible characters. This was the first on them that I read, shortly after it was published in the early 1990s, and I was sufficiently impressed to go back and read the preceding volumes in the series, and then to await its successors.With the benefit of hindsight, I view this as perhaps the last of the good books in the series – hereafter, I think that the quirks of some of the characters began to predominate, to the detriment of the books as a whole.Reading it again nearly thirty years later, this still seems a good plausible novel – even the advances in the various avenues of technology that feature don’t detract from the impact of the novel.

[readingover50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I know that I have read several of the books in this series, but it has been awhile. I wasn't sure if I had already read this one, but after starting it, I knew that I hadn't. I enjoyed reading this book. I like stories about medical examiners. It seems like an interesting career. This book was a pleasure to read. It was well written, and held my interest throughout. Even the parts that were more character exposition than action were interesting. I love her niece Lucy. I remember her from future books in the series, and it was nice to see her at an earlier age.

The central mystery was interesting. The fingerprints of a man recently executed start showing up at crime scenes. And there appears to be a connection to someone in Dr. Scarpetta's office. I enjoyed watching her figure out what was happening, although I was sad to think that that level of corruption and deceit could occur.

Reading this book made me want to read the rest of the books in this series.

[thebentley · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a well-paced and interesting mystery/thriller. It's nothing life-changing, but Cornwell knows how to tell an engaging story with enough technical details to make you feel like you're learning something without feeling like you're reading a forensics textbook. If you like "smart" crime dramas in the vein of "Bones" or "Criminal Minds," it's certainly worth your time. Fourth in a series featuring Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta.

[brakketh-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The whole world continues to be against Kay Scarpeta.

[buffalogr · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Synchronicity. I was reading this book, about the execution of a black man in Virginia, when Oklahoma death row inmate Clayton Lockett's botched execution hit the news. Kay Scarpetta, in the novel, solves the crime and saves the day. Where's my next Scarpetta book?

[nicolefromcarmel · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I found this book in a box at a yard sale for $0.50. Best 2 quarters I ever spent. I got hooked on Cornwell's writing and the Kay Scarpetta character. Mystery, thriller, police procedural, it has a little something for everyone.

[lorettar-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent as always. I love this author and thoroughly enjoy every book I have read by her.

[grheault_2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Apparently unrelated crimes, including an execution that doesn't really happen, converge on the Virginia medical examiners office, and lead to strange places, meanwhile plunging the heroine into a public relations debacle of false accusation. I loved the smart women leads: medical examiner Kay, and niece Lucy. Characters are good, but not great, and the writing is okay, but not great, the technical detail delivered tediously, and the pre-denouement seems artless: this happens then that happens, and voila.... so its not the whip, the rollercoaster, the torrid sex I've come to expect from crime thrillers. Seems geared to a gun-owning audience, and the so-called working class dialog of detective proto-boyfriend is stilted and unrealistic. Amazing though, with all its flaws, how popular this book is, and how rich it has made Patricia Cornwell. Good for her.

[gilroy_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was my first foray into the world of Kay Scarpetta and her medical examiner world. I admit I don't read a lot of suspense books as they've never really been my genre. Though I'll be honest, this book felt incomplete. It had a great build up, had you wanting to turn the page to find the next clue. Rarely did we stumble across a completely useless red herring (which I don't think we had space to find). However, it didn't feel like it had a true climax, a true denouement to the book. It just stopped.The writing was good and makes it worth sticking in my collection. But I just couldn't find a satisfaction with the ending. Instead I feel compelled to find if the plot line is completed in the next book.

[dekan-6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

this is another scarpetta novel. i'm starting to get quite hooked on her character. i have another scarpetta book running around my head but for the life of me i can't remember which one exactly. it was intrigueing with an original line of thought about the fingerprints of a man who was just executed found at a murderer crime scene. with a few added twists.

[emscape · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

WARNING: If you intend to read this as a part of the Scarpetta series and haven't read the previous three books, you might not want to read this review.Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta's duties include autopsies of inmates executed by the state of Virginia. Her latest proves to be a little unusual. Then, when other people connected to the case start dying and the fingerprint of the executed man shows up at the scene, Kay's office is called into question. She's trying to solve several murders, as well as clear her name. I liked Kay a little bit more in this book. She's not all meloncholy and pining over Mark, because he's dead (a fact revealed in the first chapter that made me feel like I must have missed something, or skipped one of the books in the series. I didn't; this information is just dropped on us rather unceremoniously). I like her relationship with her niece, Lucy, who is becoming quite the computer genius. I liked detective Marino more, too. He seems to have really shaped up since his wife left him (something that totally did happen in the last book). He's less overtly racist, sexist and crude. The mystery concerning these murders and their link to the executed man is fascinating, with just the right amount of technical detail and a very realistic timeline. I will continue to read this series.

[delphimo_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Yes, I am on a reading spree of novels by Patricia Cornwell. A relative sent me the whole Cornwell collection, but I will need to read other authors. In this installation, the reader learns that a bomb killed Mark James while he was in London. Christmas and wintry weather has descended upon Richmond, Virginia. A killer goes to the electric chair, but then his fingerprints start appearing at other murder scenes. Kay is suspended from her job, and a hated ex professor must defend her. Lucy, Kay's niece spends the holidays with Kay. Lucy is a computer whiz and aids Kay with the investigation. This story plummets up and down like a roller coaster ride. At the end of the ride, the reader is unsure of the verdict.

[skinglist · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Another quick read in my quest to read the Kay Scarpetta series this summer. Interesting how all along the theory was that Waddell hadn't been the one executed - but then he was. Like how she overcame her distrust of Gruemann to hire him, but I really don't get the Charlie Hale hook. Since the alt identity of Hilton Sullivan carries into the Body Farm, I hope his story will as well. The inclusion of the Governor was an interesting twist. I was left missing pieces with Mark's death - not sure if I missed a book or it happened between books ala Lucy's crazy aging. Overall a good read

[fmrox · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Virginia Commonwealth Chief Medical Examiner investigates an unusual deathrow inmate's execution. Along the way she examines other strange cases that seemingly overlap, but, for what reason? Richmond's Chief Detective Pete Marino, FBI's psychological analyst, Benton Wesley, and even her own teenage niece, Lucy, are drawn into the bizarre murders and connections. The plot is intriguing and some of Cornwell's better work. This is before her characters become overly wrought and full of themselves. However, one can see that Lucy was/is always annoying. This particular novel introduces on of Cornwell's famous serial killers that she brings back later in the series.

[pier50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cruel and unusual provides an enjoyable read. However, it is a bit slow to get started and then seems to pick up speed rather quickly at the end. It all finishes rather quickly and leaves a possibility that the bad guy could re-appear in another book, or we are to assume that he gets caught anyway. The foresnsic science element is always facinating though.

[caroren_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lots of twists and turns in the plot, as well as the usual dos of forensic information

[bnielsen_30 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

USA, ca 1991Titlen hentyder naturligvis til amerikansk lovs forbud mod grusom og sjælden straf, hvilket af nogle ses som en mulighed for at få afskaffet dødsstraf. Bogen starter mandag den 13 december 1991 med henrettelsen af Ronnie Joe Waddell. I bukselommen har han en kuvert med kvitteringer i, hvilket er lidt sært. Han henrettes for mordet på Robin Naismith den 4 september 1981. Retsmedicineren Kay Scarpetta obducerer liget af Ronnie og skal stå til regnskab for sin gamle juraprofessor Grueman, som er modstander af dødsstraf. Kays kæreste Mark James er død i et bombeattentat i London året før og hun har begravet sig i arbejde siden. Hendes niece på 17 år, Lucy, klager sig over at Kay ikke har besøgt hende siden Marks død, men hjælper ellers med at finde ud af hvem der hacker sig ind i Kays computer. Pete Marino spørger om ikke Kay er tilhænger af dødsstraf specielt til Marks mordere, hvis de skulle blive fanget.Kay Scarpetta undersøger den elektriske stol i fængslet for at kunne redegøre for hudafskrabninger på Ronnies lig. I fængslet møder hun fangevogteren Helen Grimes og fængselsinspektør Frank Donahue. En 13-årig dreng, Eddie Heath, bliver på samme dag som henrettelsen, fundet hårdt kvæstet og han dør tre dage senere uden at være kommet til bevidsthed. Under obduktionen af Eddie går en flaske formaldehyd i stykker og Kays assistent Susan Dawson Story tager hjem efter at have opført sig lidt besynderligt.Den 18. december 1991 bliver en horoskopskribent, Jennifer Deighton, dræbt i sin garage, hvor hun bliver fundet dagen efter. Fingeraftryk fundet på stedet passer på Ronnie, hvilket ikke giver nogen mening. Den 24. december bliver Susan fundet skudt i sin bil. Susan viser sig at være gravid. Benton Wesley hjælper med efterforskningen, blandt andet ved at have en datter ansat i fingeraftryksregistret, AFIS. En dunekspert finder edderdun på flere af gerningsstederne. Kays afdelingsleder Ben Stevens viser sig at være et råddent æg. Fængselsinspektøren Frank Donahue bliver fundet skudt den 29. december, med samme pistol som dræbte Eddie og Susan. Kay kommer under mistanke og Lucy finder ud af at der er pillet i AFIS med Waddells aftryk. Kay, Benton Wesley og fingeraftrykseksperten Neils Vander tager til Robin Naismiths tidligere hus for at finde gamle fingeraftryk, som de er sikre på tilhører Waddell. En person, Hilton Sullivan, melder en edderdunsjakke stjålet under et tidligere indbrud. Kuverten med kvitteringer i viser sig at være en fejl begået af Frank Donahue og de mange mord skyldes forsøg på at få kuverten tilbage. En mappe efterladt af statsadvokaten Norring i Robins hus spøger også. Hilton Sullivan viser sig at have intim forbindelse til fangevogteren Helen Grimes og den 20. januar 1992 slår han hende ihjel og flygter selv.Hilton Sullivan viser sig at være en falsk identitet, som dækker over Temple Brookes Gault.Underholdende krimi selv om de onde-onde skurke ikke giver megen mening

[jepeters333 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The execution of a murderer and the murder of a young boy start a series of events that lead to the discovery and escape of the murderer Temple Brooks Gault.

[darrol_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The true beginning of this series?

[amacmillen_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A serial killer is loose and has imitated a killing of another murder that is being executed. The murder in this case is a friend of a guard at the prison where the execution is happening. Hilton Sullivan (Temple brooks Gault) is the killer. The governor of Virginal was responsible for terming this person loose to kill. He was trying to keep his name clear.

[edwardsgt · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well written with enough twists to keep the reader interested. Not those of a sensitive disposition as the autopsy details are pretty graphic.

[mana_tominaga_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The fourth Kay Scarpetta mystery. The chief medical examiner for the state of Virginia has to deal with internal computer hacks and a flurry of media attention as she tries to solve one crime after another that all are united with thin threads of coincidences.

[msbeautiful · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good mystery, especially for someone who likes science/anatomy