Patricia Cornwell on Her Dark Childhood and Best-Selling Novels

“Angel Down,” a grisly novel about World War I told in a single, almost 300-page-long sentence, was awarded this year’s Pulitzer Prize for fiction. In a review for The New York Times, Ben H. Winters described it as a “thunderous gallop” that captures the “cruel and self-perpetuating logic of war.” (It was also one of the Book Review’s Top 10 books of 2025.) The day after the Pulitzers were awarded, the book’s author, Daniel Kraus — who has written horror, fantasy and young adult novels — spoke to the Book Review’s editor, Gilbert Cruz, about putting together his semi-experimental story. Cruz also spoke with Patricia Cornwell, a best-selling author who rose to prominence in the 1990s with novels about the character Kay Scarpetta, a chief medical examiner. A Scarpetta series starring Nicole Kidman debuted this year on Amazon. Cornwell has released a new memoir, “True Crime,” in which she tells the surprising story of her childhood and the events that led her to become a novelist. Listen to and Follow ‘The Book Review’ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube | iHeartRadio Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. We Want to Hear From You We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review’s podcast in general. You can send them to thebookreview@nytimes.com. Credits The “Book Review” podcast is hosted by Gilbert Cruz and produced by Amy Pearl, Sarah Diamond and Patricia Sulbarán. The show is edited by Larissa Anderson and mixed by Pedro Rosado. Special thanks to Dahlia Haddad and Brooke Minters. Illustration by The New York Times; Inset covers: via Simon and Schuster ("Angel Down"); via Grand Central ("True Crime".) Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.