Gerritsen claimed the story allowed her to deal with her own childhood turmoil, including the repeated suicide attempts of her mother.

He told her young orphans were vanishing from Moscow streets, and police believed the kidnapped children were being shipped abroad as organ donors.

[11] Harvest was Gerritsen's first hardcover novel, and it marked her debut on the New York Times bestseller list at number thirteen.

Although a secondary character in The Surgeon, Rizzoli has been a central focus of 13 subsequent novels (see below) pairing her with medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles.

[17] Gerritsen also made an appearance in the series' final season as a writer who helps Isles establish herself in the literary field.

A tale of gruesome murders, the book is set primarily in 1830s Boston and includes a character based on Oliver Wendell Holmes.

[16] Gerritsen co-wrote the story and screenplay for Adrift, which aired on CBS as Movie of the Week in 1993 and starred Kate Jackson and Bruce Greenwood.

Yakov's Lament (2012), a solo violin piece by French composer Damien Top, is inspired by Gerritsen's novel Harvest.