Patricia Cornwell stopped by Good Morning America to discuss her latest novel, Sharp Force.
Cornwell’s novel, the 29th to feature medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, was published Tuesday by Grand Central. The novel sees Scarpetta on the trail of a serial killer who taunts his victims with holograms; other characters in the book include a robotic dog and an AI companion. A critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, “Come for the forensics, stay for the nonhumans.”
Cornwell discussed the inspiration behind the novel.
“When I started this book, I thought, What is something that as a child made me very curious?” she said. “It was ghosts. I’m always wondering, because I do so much research in technology, what scientific explanation could there be for something…seeming to appear. A serial killer is basically using holographic technology to stalk his victims.”
GMA co-anchor Robin Roberts said that the book is “a good, old-fashioned ghost story, but high-tech.”
“One of my challenges is, How do you write books and set them in the modern world?” Cornwell said. “With technology, you’re followed everywhere you go. It’s signaling things. DNA—one cell and you can get a profile. A book would be solved in two pages, so…it’s very important that we have Scarpetta live in the same world we do.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
