As a worldwide bestselling author of 25 forensic thriller novels, Patricia Cornwell has sold more than 100 million books, translated into 36 languages, to readers in 120 countries. Her novels are known for having intricate, well-thought-out storylines, with many thousands of hours of research used to add factual details as the plot unfolds. Since 1999, much of that fact-finding has been done from the right seat of one of the many helicopters she has owned and flown.
Cornwell has owned two Bell 407s, a Bell 427, and a Bell 430, and she’s leased other helicopters over the years. A private pilot with a rotorcraft rating, she has gained a new perspective on her 1,400 flight hours by viewing research locations from the air. When Lucy, a character in her novels, became a helicopter pilot, Cornwell drew on her personal experience as a rotorcraft PIC to add a solid layer of accuracy and believability to the story.
