The thriller which introduced medical examiner Kay Scarpetta -- actresses from Demi Moore to Susan Sarandon are desperate to play on her on film -- also established Cornwell as a major publishing asset. They opened up her bank account and started pouring money into it and she now has homes in Malibu , Virginia , the Caribbean and London 's Mayfair . Since then her books have been published in 24 countries and Cornwell Enterprises has offices in Los Angeles and Richmond, Virginia, where a staff of eight look after her business -- travel, advertising, film rights negotiations -- and personal -- supplies of Evian water and health drink powder -- needs. This was a woman who had it all, who had worked, paid her dues, and finally found phenomenal success. Her fictional world is sinister, home to all that is evil, while Cornwell herself is a complicated person with a quirky past who has overcome a difficult childhood through determination and ambition. It was her initial application which make her books work so well. The Morgue. That is the precinct of Dr Kay Scarpetta, the Chief Medical Examiner of Richmond, Virginia, which by no coincidence is the original home town of her creator. Her publishers call her books 'scalpel sharp' and there's some merit in that. What Cornwell is doing is using today's forensic science breakthroughs to rework and revitalise the crime novel. Scarpetta is Chandleresque in that she's independent, honest and dedicated. Cornwell sees herself that way. In 1984 she went to work for the Virginia medical examiner's office and her area was the morgue, first as a technical writer and then as a computer analyst. She also volunteered to be a city policewoman. She wanted to top off that experience for 'Postmortem' when she went to Quantico in 1990. 'She's very knowledgeable,' says former FBI criminal behaviour expert John Douglas adding:' Her books are very authentic. She really does her homework.' Marguerite Bennett ,38, married to former FBI man Eugene Bennett and the mother of two young daughters, helped with the homework. Her husband claims in court papers that the couple's relationship turned in a ongoing lesbian affair in 1991. He says he saw them enjoying candlelight dinners at romantic Washington restaurants and embraces in parked cars. He claims they intended their affair to be 'covert' but he said his wife visited Cornwell's home and took gifts from her. Eugene Bennett,41, says he searched the family van and discovered lingerie, lesbian pornography and sex toys. He removed the material for 'safe keeping' before confronting his wife. In papers involved with the couple's divorce being heard by Washington Superior Court he says his wife laughed at him when he accused her of her lesbian affair with Cornwell. His wife described him as 'square' and told him he would 'enjoy a threesome' if he would only try it.' He says she said she was surprised it had taken him so long to discover her secret sexuality. She also indicated that others at the FBI training school were also 'doing this'. She said she had taken a 'special interest' in several female recruits.
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