Patricia Cornwell was born on June 9, 1956 to Sam and Marilyn (Zenner) Daniels, in Miami, Florida. She graduated from Davidson College in 1979 and worked for the Charlotte Observer before spending six years at the Chief Medical Examiner’s office in Virginia. After college, she was married to Charles Cornwell from 1980 to 1989, and in 2006 she married Staci Gruber.

Cornwell sold her first book, Postmortem, in 1990. It won five major book awards in a single year and launched her very successful and prolific writing career. In addition to her well-known Kay Scarpetta forensic novels, her bibliography includes biographies, cookbooks, and a children’s book. She has had 29 books on the New York Times best sellers list and has won numerous awards for her writing. Cornwell is also an active philanthropist, supporting several causes within her wide-ranging interests. Her donation of books and materials to UTK Special Collections, in keeping with her eclectic curiosity, includes many topics other than forensic medicine.