is independent , feisty and someone Cornwell knows better than she knows herself . To honor that close relationship , Cornwell decided to name her 16th book in the series after its main character , titling it simply `` Scarpetta . '' `` I realized , here it is 2008 . I finished my first book 20 years ago in 1988 . This is a really big anniversary , '' Cornwell said . In the novel , Scarpetta leaves South Carolina for New York , where the NYPD has asked her to examine an injured psychiatric patient . The patient has a graphic tale to tell -- one of paranoia and murder . The novelist said her books all have two things in common : First , of course , is a plot twist that allows Scarpetta to make a Sherlock Holmes-like deduction . The second is intriguing character interaction . `` What 's going on with them in this book ? What are they doing with or to each other ? Who 's in love ? Who is n't ? Who 's on the outs with whom ? Because I hope , in the end , -LSB- my books
ATLANTA , Georgia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- When Patricia Cornwell began writing thriller novels , she ruled the world of forensic science . `` I 'm very interested in what motivates people , why they do what they do , how they do it , '' Patricia Cornwell said . `` I could treat readers in each book to some new aspect that they would n't be familiar with , '' Cornwell said . Now the author is bombarded with `` CSI '' - like information from every side -- from `` Bones '' to `` Forensic Files '' to , well , `` CSI . '' `` It 's like you create this monster and find out it 's living in the house with you , and it 's banished you to a room because it has more power than you , '' she said . Cornwell knew she had to adapt to the changing entertainment climate . `` One of the questions I really did ask myself was , ` What 's the one thing I have no one else does ? ' '' The answer was chief medical examiner Kay Scarpetta , Cornwell 's heroine . Scarpetta