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The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell
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The Body Farm (1994)

by Patricia Cornwell

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4,215361,082 (3.62)20
20th century (12) American (17) Cornwell (22) crime (190) crime and mystery (12) crime fiction (89) detective (21) FBI (15) fiction (346) forensic mystery (13) forensics (139) hardcover (16) Kay Scarpetta (237) medical (18) medical examiner (45) murder (58) mystery (407) novel (30) own (13) paperback (16) Patricia Cornwell (32) read (77) Scarpetta Series (32) serial killer (23) series (36) suspense (57) thriller (126) unread (15) USA (24) Virginia (31)
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Showing 1-5 of 31 (next | show all)
Plotting transparent; continuity choppy. Relying heavily on established characters. ( )
  CandaceVan | Apr 16, 2013 |
Although I read this a long time ago, I remember finding it one of her more exciting page-turners. ( )
  shesinplainview | Apr 13, 2013 |
Another fine, short, Kay Scarpetta thriller. ( )
  buffalogr | Dec 5, 2012 |
When a young girl is murdered in a similar way to Eddie Heath from the last book, Kay is worried that her failure to catch Temple Gault has cost another life. However, the investigation becomes more and more bizarre, leading detectives to believe this might be the work of a copy-cat, a local weirdo or someone else entirely. Complicating matters, Kay's niece, Lucy, is now working for the bureau in the computer department and it looks like she's been caught stealing classified information. Kay has to catch a killer and clear her niece's name, all while dealing with her burgeoning new romance (with someone completely unexpected) and the estrangement of another friend.
This is not your typical murder-of-the-week type book. The characterizations and relationships between the characters continue to grow deeper throughout the series. I'm not really a fan of Kay's new relationship, but it's realistic, and obviously character-directed, not a sop for the audience who expects a romantic subplot. I always really enjoy the technical details of forensic experiements, but the "Body Farm" of the title, an area where bodies are decomposing in contrived circumstances in order to better understand time of death, was a little nauseating to read about. Particularly because I was eating lunch at the time I happened to come upon that part of the book.
My biggest nitpick continues to be how this ME is always in a position to come into violent conflict with the villain at the end of the novel. It's unlikely to happen even once in the life of any other non-fictional ME and for it to keep happening to Kay is ridiculous. I know there needs to be a suspenseful, cathartic ending, but it's completely unrealistic. In such a series, where the author is very well informed about forensic devices and details, and the time lines are more realistic than other murder/detective novels (i.e. the crime is not solved in the space of a week, but rather months), it bothers me that this very critical point is so improbable.
Overall, though, a decent book, which kept me interested and desirous of more about Kay Scarpetta. ( )
  EmScape | Jun 22, 2012 |
It's not a good sign when the first thing you say upon finishing a book is, "I'm so glad that's over."

"The Body Farm" is the first Patricia Cornwell book I've read and may be the last. The location for which the book was named--the place at the University of Tennessee where dead humans are studied for forensic reasons--consists of one chapter about 3/4 of the way through. And what they did there had little to no impact on the case Kay Scarpetta is working on.

I will concede that I might have enjoyed the book a little more had I read previous Scarpetta books as there were obviously recurring characters. But as I'm basically introduced to them here, I found most of them, like Marino and Lucy, to be flat and quite unlikable.

The story centers around a little girl who's brutally killed near her home. The local police are overwhelmed and bring in state's bureau, who, because the crime is similar to a serial killer's mode of operation, bring in the FBI. There's a bunch of little clues along the way, but it seems basic police work wasn't done as some of the players aren't even suspects. And throwing in the Temple Gault character (the serial killer who obviously played a role in previous novels) seemed forced and just an excuse for a red herring.

The subplot with Scarpetta's niece Lucy seemed rather unbelievable. I was simply disappointed with the book, especially given how popular Cornwell's books are. ( )
  Jarratt | May 14, 2012 |
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Epigraph
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. Psalm 107:23-24
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To Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah for his tireless fight against crime.
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On the sixteenth of October, shadowy deer crept to the edge of dark woods beyond my window as the sun peeked over the cover of night.
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Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0425201449, Mass Market Paperback)

New York Times bestselling author Patricia Cornwell brings back Kay Scarpetta, consulting forensic pathologist for the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, in her grittiest and most compelling novel. In rural North Carolina, the brutal murder of eleven-year-old Emily Steiner has shaken a small town. But more disturbing are the details of the crimes, chillingly reminiscent of the handiwork of a serial killer who has eluded the unit for years. Into this volatile atmosphere comes Scarpetta's ingenious, rebellious niece Lucy, an FBI intern with a promising future in Quantico's computer engineering facility--until she is accused of a shocking security violation. While coming to terms with Lucy, Kay must conduct a grisly forensic investigation at a clandestine research facility in Tennessee known as the Body Farm. There she will find more answers to Emily Steiner's murder--and evidence that paints a picture of a crime more horrifying than she imagined . . .

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 04 Jan 2013 11:55:23 -0500)

(see all 5 descriptions)

Dr. Kay Scarpetta travels to North Carolina to investigate the murder of an eleven-year-old girl, but the evidence does not add up, and she must conduct a gruesome experiment at a remote research facility to find the answers, in a new edition of the classic thriller, complete with a new introduction by the author.… (more)

» see all 7 descriptions

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