The Body Farm

I didn't like this as much as I liked some of the other ones. Kay, Lucy and Marino are starting to mesh better but I feel it's very rushed. Seeing through to Marino's fate was a little predictable. There seems to be a crime script that's followed - protagonist or loved one in danger. will be

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interesting to see how Kay and Benton resolve this.

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Pretty good story with some exciting episodes. I cannot help but think that her affair with Wesley is unfortunate, and Marino's being taking in by the perp rather sad.

Frankly, this one was very blah for me. The book was not so much about the case as it was about the relationships between Kay and Marino, Marino and Benton Wesley, Kay and Wesley, and Kay and Lucy. Oh, and Kay and her sister. Blah. Too much angst for a crime novel. And I figured out who the bad guy

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was waaaaaaaaaay early.

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I like Cornwell's Scarpetta novels. They are exciting and fun. There is a lot of angst among these characters that at times distracts from the actual crime that is being investigated. The crime scene investigations are not fully explored but the story is interesting. I liked it for entertainment

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purposes.

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The book that brought Cornwell fame and started the mass interest in forensic science mysteries. Here Cornwell is at her best. Her characters are interesting, intelligent and there is just the right mix of science and plot. Kay Scarpetta is a strong believable female lead and it sparked my interest

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in the following Cornwell's books devotedly. Unfortunately she lost me as a reader in the last few editions that seem to betray what she created so masterfully here.

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I did not enjoy the fifth of the Kay Scarpetta novels as much as the 2nd or 3rd, but this wasn't because of the plot. I enjoyed the twist at the end as much as I enjoy any of these procedural crime novels, in that the reader is often able to figure out who the murderer is, but the proof is never

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revealed until the main character finds the evidence and explains its dire significance. As this takes some of the thinking out of the read, this can get old for me. However, this plot did not seem quite so formulaic, with a perhaps more interesting motivation than the pervasive anger, megalomania, etc. Unfortunately, I found the interpersonal relationships of Kay (the medical examiner with surprising investigative allowances), Marino (the detective she works with), and Wesley (the FBI profiler they are paired with) to be tiresome. Kay and Marino snipe at each other constantly, for example. Perhaps the build up to this book, in the form of the fourth novel in the series, was necessary in order to understand and therefore put up with the way they all act towards each other in this one - though I have to admit, I hate reading Kay's interaction with her family, too, and this book contained a lot of her-vs-her-sister sorts of interactions that was aggravating (as I believe the sister is set up to be) and which I simply wished would end. I might also be getting tired of the continual "woman in a man's world" theme to these books and annoyed by the slight angst this entails.

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This book title often comes up in discussions about mysteries, so when I saw it at a Bookcrossing meeting, I grabbed it. An 11-year-old girl has been found murdered and raped. It looks like the work of serial killer Temple Gault. Dr. Kate Scarpetta is a forensic doctor and a lawyer, consulting with

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the FBI. She pours through the evidence, and suggests new angles to work on. Meanwhile, she also has to cope with a crisis within her own family. Her niece has been interning with the FBI, and is now accused of stealing top secret information. Kate must do her best to clear her niece, and follow the evidence that seems to lead to a little girl being killed by some one very close to home.

I liked the book, and I may seek out more in the series. My only odd thought about the book is the title. Yes, it's catchy, but it has almost nothing to do with the book. Just one low-key scene takes place at the body farm, and that is late in the book.

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This is the first Patricia Cornwell book I have read. I have to say I enjoyed how the author jumps right into the story. There was no beginning lag where you get to know the character and blah blah blah.
I really enjoy the medical and scientific aspects of this book and it's nice to see an

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alternative side to the police work. The story is revolved around the murder of a young girl in a small Christian town. The author does a great job of moving the evidence to point in several different directions all at once, in the hope that you would be constantly guessing who did it. I actually already kind of figured out who it was before it got to that point but ... Anyways, it was an interesting read. It was real quick for me and it's defiantly a good filler.

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In a small Virginia town a young girl is found murdered and the circumstances cast suspicions on a hunted serial killer. Dr. Kay Scarpetta, forensic pathologist, is on the scene to track down the killer while also guiding her headstrong neice into a career with the FBI. As the death toll and

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mystery escalate, simple answers are hard to come by and Scarpetta searches to decipher a small clue with the help of scientists at the anthropology research facility in Tennesee, better known as the Body Farm.

This was the first Patricia Cornwell novel I have read and it was an odd place to start, but I did enjoy it. The Body Farm is a fast paced read with relatively accurate depictions of forensic science. Cornwell doesn't beat the reader over the head with back story so it was nice to pick up on character relationships from context rather than drudging through history that would've interrupted the pacing of the book. Although I was expecting more of the story to take place at the fictionalized version of Knoxville's Research Facility, I was still drawn in by the suspense of the story and appreciated that it was a well written book.

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Good mystery, especially for someone who likes science/anatomy

Kay Scarpetta always seems to run into Gault. She sees him and then he quickly disappears. In The Body Farm, Kay and Pete Marino investigate the brutal murder of an 11-year-old girl. The crime appears to resemble Gault's sadistic mode of murder. In the meantime, Kay's niece, Lucy, is interning in

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the FBI high security-programming lab when security is breached. Cornwell presents so many interesting facts, like the rubber cast of a fingerprint is the mirror image or a reversed image. Cornwell also enters many medical and psychological terms, such as the Munchausen syndrome. The book is long and not as easy reading as James Patterson, but the writing is so much better.

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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

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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.

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Excellent as always. I love this author and thoroughly enjoy every book I have read by her.

I was a good read . I couldn't pot it down . Done in 3 days She is a great author AND I HAVE ENJOYED ALL THAT I HAVE READ.

@ Dr + Forensic expert - okay

When an eleven-year-old girl is found murdered, Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia, gets another chance at stopping one of the most heartless and horrifying serial killers of her career: the demented Temple Gault.

A little girl in NC is dead and Dr. Scarpetta thinks that it is Temple Brooks Gault.

This story was a little far fetched for me. The murder of a child is always a sad thing. The child's mother was an initially sympathetic character, whose actions quickly became more incomprehensible. The power she gains over Marino is hard to believe. When did he become so easily swayed? And the

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body farm was such a small part of the book. The murder wrapped up neatly in the end, a little too neatly for my taste.

Even though I had some complaints about the plot, the book was still a fun read. The personal relationship between Kay and Wesley seemed to move forward a lot. A little fast for me. I felt like I must have missed a few books because of all the relationship changes, but I know I haven't. Parts of the book were too predictable, while others were too confusing.

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Forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta is part of an FBI team called in to assist in the investigation of the abduction and murder of an 11-year-old girl in Black Mountain, North Carolina. The circumstances of the murder suggest that wanted killer Temple Gault is behind it. A strange mark on the

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girl’s corpse prompts Dr. Scarpetta to consult Dr. Shade at the University of Tennessee’s “Body Farm”, where they conduct an experiment to help Dr. Scarpetta. Meanwhile, the lines between personal and professional blur as Kay draws closer to FBI profiler Benton Wesley and tries to navigate through the jealousy of her comrade, detective Pete Marino. Kay’s niece, Lucy, a Quantico intern, also gets into trouble and needs her aunt’s help.

Given this book’s title, I expected the Body Farm to play a larger role in the book than it did. Dr. Scarpetta spent very little time in Knoxville or with Dr. Shade. There were a couple of bloopers that continue to nag at me. First of all, the novel opens on October 16, and the child was last seen alive on October 1. She had already been buried and had a headstone by the time Scarpetta got to Black Mountain a day or two later. Anyone who has ever buried a loved one knows that you can’t get a headstone erected that quickly. Secondly, Dr. Scarpetta visited Knoxville on homecoming Saturday and stayed at the Hyatt. How did she manage to get a room there at the last minute? All of the local hotels would have been fully booked for months, especially a hotel that close to Neyland Stadium.

I think I would tire out on this series if I read the books too close together. It’s the type of book that makes good airplane reading, so I might revisit Dr. Scarpetta’s world on some future trip.

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I have enjoyed rereading Patricia Cornwell’s novels featuring Dr Kay Scarpetta, nearly thirty years after I read them for the first time. This was an interesting one as I think it marked the point at which, first time around, I started tio feel that Cornwell was possible losing her grip.

I had

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found her four previous novels to be very good, with a pleasing blend of cleverly-constructed plots peopled by plausible and often empathetic characters. While this was still a strong novel, the plot was neither as believable nor as watertight as in the earlier books.

As the novel opens, Dr Scarpetta is at Quantico, FBI headquarters, having just commenced a role as a consultant to the Bureau, working alongside the suave, sophisticated Special Agent Benton Wesley and the significantly less polished Police Captain Pete Marino as part of the ViCAP (Violent Criminal Apprehension Programme). They meet for a case conference to discuss the discovery of the body of a young girl, from whose body strips of flesh have been removed. This is reminiscent of a recent case that the three of them had worked in which the perpetrator was identified, but not arrested. They believe that he may have struck again. The investigation proceeds, with leads being inconclusive.

Meanwhile, Dr Scarpetta’s niece, Lucy Farinelli, who has emerged through the earlier books as a technological wizard, has been inducted into formal training at Quantico, and is working on certain classified projects. However, while Scarpetta and Co are away investigating this latest murder, Lucy’s behaviour becomes erratic, and various allegations are made against her, leading to her suspension.

I felt that Cornwell failed to make the various threads of this hydra-headed plot cohere, and the behaviour of the main protagonists degenerates into the frankly unbelievable. That was my judgement when I first read this book, and it remains the same now.

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