Best selling American crime writer Patricia Cornwell is in Dublin today, here to take part in one of the opening events of the Bram Stoker Festival, happening this weekend. The event, The Anatomy of Fear - From Stoker to Scarpetta with Patricia Cornwell, takes place in Trinity College, and the author will be introduced by the state pathologist, Dr. Marie Cassidy! Very appropriate given the subject matter and the significant role forensic science plays in her Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.Cornwell has sold over 100 million copies of her books worldwide, and wouldn't you know it, you can borrow her books in our branch libraries and read away to your heart's content (check below).Right: Patricia Cornwell in Trinity College, 26th October 2012 (click thumbnail to enlarge)The 20th novel in the Scarpetta series (The Bone Bed) has just been published (25th October in fact), so while not yet on our bookshelves is on order and soon to arrive. In this latest, Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta returns to solve the mysterious disappearance of a palaeontologist.But don't despair, unless you are a Cornwell fanatic and have already read the other nineteen in the series, you have plenty to keep you going in the meantime. So check the links below for availability of the series titles in the library catalogue:Post-mortem (1990)Body of Evidence (1991)All That Remains (1992)Cruel and Unusual (1993)The Body Farm (1994)From Potter's Field (1995)Cause of Death (1996)Unnatural Exposure (1997)Point of Origin (1998)Black Notice (1999)The Last Precinct (2000)Blow Fly (2003)Trace (2004)Predator (2005)Book of the Dead (2007)Scarpetta (2008)The Scarpetta Factor (2009)Port Mortuary (2010)Red Mist (2011)The Bone Bed (2012) (just published, to come)In the following video clip, the bestselling author is talking about her 18th Kay Scarpetta thriller, 'Port Mortuary'.Visit the Patricia Cornwell website.
101 things you thought you knew about the Titanic.
The book "101 things you thought you knew about the Titanic.... but didn't" is a fascinating study of some of the myths and half-truths that have arisen since that fateful morning of April 15th 1912. (Growing up in Cobh, I reckon I've heard 99 of them!) Author Tim Matlin dispels many of these popular legends using primary sources such as the US Inquiry and the British Inquiry, both of 1912. He also shows that many of these stories are indeed true. The myths are neatly separated into categories such as: The Ship, Omens, Passengers, Collision, S.O.S etc.Below are a few examples to whet your appetite:Titanic was genuinely believed to be unsinkable. This is true as she was designed to stay afloat with any of her two watertight compartments flooded. The glancing blow Titanic received from the iceberg was not foreseen, as it had never happened before according to maritime records.Titanic was filled to capacity on her maiden voyage. False; she was about half full carrying 1,308 passengers out of a total capacity of 2,603.If Titanic had struck the iceberg head-on, she would not have sunk. This is true according to evidence given by Edward Wilding, one of Titanic's designers. He cited the case of the Arizona, which 34 years previously hit an iceberg head-on and survived. Titanic's bows would have been crushed in for 80 or 100 feet but she would have remained afloat according to Wilding. Titanic broke in half as she sank. Yes. This was not discovered until 1985 when her wreck was found on the seabed. Her bow section lay 650 metres North of her stern section.More women were saved from the Titanic than men. False. 338 men were saved and 316 women. This is because only about 25% of the people (passengers and crew) were women.You can find more books on the Titanic in our catalogue.
