Cruel and Unusual

Cruel and Unusual is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell. It is the fourth book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series. Plot summary Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta is called in to autopsy the body of convicted murderer Ronnie Waddell after his execution. Several days after the execution, a young boy is discovered murdered in the fashion of Waddell's earlier killings, with Waddell's prints near the body. Scarpetta, along with FBI Agent Benton Wesley and Detective Pete Marino, try to discover how a dead inmate could have possibly committed another murder after his death. As the story progresses she seeks the assistance of her 17-year-old niece, Lucy, after she discovers a strange folder on her computer. Characters Kay Scarpetta – Chief Medical Examiner. Benton Wesley – Federal Bureau of Investigation profiler. Pete Marino – Detective Lieutenant in the Richmond Police Department Nicholas Grueman – Lawyer, advocate for the abolition of capital punishment, deeming it "cruel and unusual". Also Scarpetta's Georgetown lecturer, who had always seemed to be hard on Kay but it turned out that he had her interests at heart while doing so. Joe Norring – Governor of Virginia, Republican, Episcopalian; and held a law degree from UVA. Ben Stevens – Kay's morgue administrator. Is into drugs and a party-lifestyle. Being bribed by Frank Donahue to tamper with evidence. Temple Brooks Gault – The killer of the victims in the book. Uses the alias Hilton Sullivan. Being described by Benton Wesley as being "off the charts. If something strikes his fancy, he just does it. He's consummately narcissistic and vain – his hair, for example. He highlights it himself." He escaped apprehension. Lucy - Kay's niece