Her body of work is legendary, as are the number of bodies — and body parts — it contains.

Her name: Tess Gerritsen, author of 26 novels of medical and crime thrillers and romantic suspense tales.

Since 1987, with the publication of her first novel, “Call After Midnight,” Gerritsen has penned herself into international literary history.

Gerritsen will be the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library's (BHML) Literary Luncheon guest on Friday, March 20. Attendees can expect to hear about her most recently published book and Gerritsen's just finished semi-historical novel coming out in October.

Fans have read her gripping whodunits in 35 languages, real page turners in which they can't wait to find out what will happen next — and neither can Gerritsen.

“Die Again,” her 11th crime thriller featuring Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli, and 10th teaming Rizzoli with forensic pathologist Maura Isles, was released in late December of 2014.

Thanks to cable network TNT, even non-readers are familiar with these two female characters since the premiere of the network's series, “Rizzoli & Isles” in 2010.

In “Die Again,” Isles encounters a bizarre and grisly murder: a man suspended by his feet, gutted, bearing ... claw marks. We're talking African cat claws. Turns out this guy is not only a taxidermist, he's a big game hunter.

Rizzoli finds herself on a plane to Botswana, Africa to follow up on a lead about a group on safari six years earlier who were all killed — save one woman who was lucky to escape. Who killed the members of the safari party? Is someone “on safari” in Boston?

Gerritsen is not an author who shies away from researching for her novels. When it comes to human anatomy, and the scientific components of an investigation, Gerritsen has it in the bag; she is a retired physician.

For “Die Again,” Gerritsen had a lot of researching to do about Africa, how zoos care for their big cat collection, how different big cat skeletons and organs differ from each other (and how they differ from human skeletons and organs).

So, how, you may wonder, does Gerritsen come up with this stuff, anyway?

“I have a high level of situational awareness,” said the author. “When my husband and I were on safari two years ago in Africa, our group had an unexpected encounter with a leopard. Our guide kept us safe. But what if the the most dangerous animal in the bush was on two legs? What if the 'real' guide had been killed .... You don't know. You land in this land and a man in a truck greets you, you don't know for sure who he is and, even if you get away from him you're in an environment that could kill you. The writer's mind is always quick to think 'What's the worst that could happen?' Stories are all around us.”

Gerritsen spends about a year writing each of her books. Her latest, “Playing With Fire,” is slated for publication in October of this year.

This semi-historical thriller takes readers to Europe. The central character is a female violinist who picks up a piece of antique music in Rome. Every time she plays the piece, the musician's 3-year-old daughter behaves violently whenever she hears it.

Is the piece haunted? Is there something evil about it? The woman knows she has to discover the history behind the music.

A parallel story delves into how, when and where the music was composed (wartime Venice) and about the disturbing story associated with it.

Gerritsen, also a violinist, composed the haunting piece of music in the book. Readers will actually be able to hear a recording of the music when “Playing With Fire” is released!

The author said the tune came to her during a nightmare she experienced while in Vienna writing the book.

“What's interesting is that halfway through writing the book, I woke up with the music in my head ... it was just handed to me by my subconscious,” Gerritsen said.

When it comes to creating characters, Gerritsen doesn't feel like she has to “know it all” when she begins and never uses an outline. Gerritsen thinks to do so “kills the fun and the discovery.”

“It is a form of magic,” the author said about the writing process. “When I start writing, all I know about my characters is their age, gender, race (most of the time) and, I kind of know what they do for a living. It's the same as what you would know about someone you'd just met for the first time. I never plan ahead. I can't wait to find out what happens to them.”

Learn more about Gerritsen, these latest works, her plans for Rizzoli and Isles (next book due by June of 2016) by attending the luncheon to be catered by East Boothbay General Store. Each bag lunch is $10, payable at the time of registration at BHML, located at 4 Oak Street in Boothbay Harbor.

The luncheon will be held at 11:45 a.m. at the Boothbay Harbor Town Office located at 11 Howard Street, also in Boothbay Harbor.

For more information, call the library at 207-633-3112.