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Kay Scarpetta #5

The Body Farm

patricia cornwell

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The Body Farm - a research institute that tests the decomposition of corpses. Black Mountain, North Carolina: a sleepy little town where the local police deal with one homicide a year, if they're unlucky, and where people are still getting used to the idea of locking their doors at night. But violent death is no respecter of venue, and the discovery of the corpse of an 11-year-old girl sends shock waves through the community. Dr Kay Scarpetta, Chief medical Examiner on a similar case in Virginia, is called in to apply her forensic skills to this latest atrocity, but the apparent simplicity of the case proves something of a poisoned chalice - until Scarpetta finds enlightenment through the curious pathologists' playground known as the Body Farm.

From Author’s Website

351 pages, Paperback

First published September 1,1994
Series
Kay Scarpetta
Places
black mountain north carolina, virginia, north carolina, 

This edition

Format
351 pages, Paperback
Published
December 28, 2004 by Berkley
ISBN
9780425201442
ASIN
0425201449
Language
English
Characters More characters

More editions

About the author

Profile Image for patricia cornwell

patricia cornwell

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Patricia Cornwell sold her first novel, Postmortem, in 1990 while working as a computer analyst at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. Postmortem, was the first bona fide forensic thriller. It paved the way for an explosion of entertainment featuring in all things forensic across film, television and literature.

Postmortem would go on to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity awards as well as the French Prix du Roman d'Aventure prize – the first book ever to claim all these distinctions in a single year. To date, Cornwell's books have sold some 100 million copies in thirty-six languages in over 120 countries. She's authored twenty-nine New York Times bestsellers.

Patricia's novels center primarily on medical examiner Kay Scarpetta along with her tech-savvy niece Lucy and fellow investigator Pete Marino. Celebrating 25 years, these characters have grown into an international phenomenon, winning Cornwell the Sherlock Award for best detective created by an American author, the Gold Dagger Award, the RBA Thriller Award, and the Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters for her contributions to literary and artistic development.

Fox 2000 bought the rights to Kay Scarpetta. Working with producer Liz Friedman, Marvel's Jessica Jones and fellow Marvel EP and Twilight Saga scribe Melissa Rosenberg to develop the film and find Scarpetta a home on the big screen.

After earning her degree in English from Davidson College in 1979, she began working at the Charlotte Observer.

Cornwell received widespread attention and praise for her series of articles on prostitution and crime in downtown Charlotte. From the Charlotte Observer, Cornwell moved to a job with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia – a post she would later bestow upon the fictional Kay Scarpetta.

When not writing from her Boston home, Patricia tirelessly researches cutting-edge forensic technologies to include in her work. Her interests span outside the literary: Patricia co-founded of the Conservation Scientist Chair at the Harvard University Art Museums. She appears as a forensic consultant on CNN and serves as a member of Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital's National Council, where she advocates for psychiatric research. She's helped fund the ICU at Cornell's Animal Hospital, the scientific study of a Confederate submarine, the archaeological excavation of Jamestown, and a variety of law enforcement charities. Patricia is also committed to
funding scholarships and literacy programs. Her advice to aspiring authors: “Start writing. And don't take no for an answer.”


Social and Digital Outlets

http://www.patriciacornwell.com

https://www.facebook.com/patricia.cor...

https://twitter.com/1pcornwell

https://instagram.com/1pcornwell/


Other areas of expertise & interests
Forensics | Forensic Technologies | Ballistics | Weapons | Explosives | Pathology & Autopsies | Crime | Historical and Unsolved Criminal Cases | Jack The Ripper | Helicopter Piloting | Suba Diving | Archaeological Excavation Experience |

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Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
33(33%)
4 stars
27(27%)
3 stars
40(40%)
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0(0%)
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100 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
xCuteee
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I think this has been my favorite in the 'Scarpetta' series so far. I love how we learn more about Kay as the series progresses, and not all of it is positive. Same for some other regular characters. This book has everything I enjoy in these books: a strong mystery, Kay herself being targeted, lots of tension between the main characters, fast pace and an exciting climax. I was a little disappointed the title had only a small amount to do with the story but that was pretty much the only criticism.
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Lostnekoo
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell is book 5 in the Dr Kay Scarpetta series and it's definitely my favourite so far in the series.
It fast, pacy, dark, twisted and exciting, Its the book we need to actually see how strong the characters and their relationships are and to show no matter how much we trust friends and family there's cracks.
The the showdow storyline which weaves into the main storyline is a continuation of Temple Gault ( which hopefully comes to an end soon) but the main forefront story is about a murdered little girl and a horrific mother.
I definitely recommend this series so far
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OogaBoogaMan21_
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Een elfjarig meisje wordt vermoord. Pete Marino en Kay Scarpetta houden zich bezig met de zaak. Maar Kay heeft ook nog andere zorgen: haar nichtje Lucy, die voor de FBI werkt, wordt beschuldigd van spionage...
En het gaat van kwaad naar erger, en Kay Scarpetta voelt zich bedreigd, en met reden, want iemand probeerde haar te vermoorden in wat een auto-ongeluk moest lijken. Maar het was Lucy die met de wagen van Kay reed, en wonder boven wonder hield ze niets ernstigs over aan het ongeval.
Ondertussen is Marino een relatie begonnen met de moeder van het vermoorde meisje., en uiteindelijk wordt dit hem bijna fataal.
In dit boek geven Benton Wesley en Kay uiteindelijk toe aan hun gevoelens voor eikaar, maar een relatie tussen collega's is meestal geen goed idee...

Ik heb al verschillende boeken uit de reeks gelezen (niet in volgorde) en hoewel ik de latere boeken van de reeks steeds minder goed begon te vinden (2 ervan heb ik zelfs niet uitgelezen), was dit boek, dat het vijfde in de reeks is, heel goed. De moeite van het lezen waard.
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Kuze_Osuka
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Excellent Scarpetta addition. Now a consultant for the FBI Kay works to track down a serial killer slaying children. Her niece is an intern at the Bureau which a number of her own personal challenges and the web spun by the killer slowly envelopes her friends and loved ones. Great stuff, great pace, great series.
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Profile Image for Kimberly .
sefira
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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One of the most fascinating mysteries I’ve ever read. The best part was the description of what goes on at the “body farm,” which is a (real) place where dead bodies are placed in different conditions to see what happens to them, in order to help solve homicides.

This is probably my favorite Patricia Cornwell Kay Scarpetta mystery book. It’s the fifth of the series though, and they should be read in order, as the characters grow & develop.

Patricia Cornwell books are not for the faint-hearted. They're not cozy mysteries!

Anyone who likes the body farm’s graphic descriptions would probably enjoy the non-fiction book Stiff by Mary Roach, not about homicide victims, but about what happens to dead human bodies.
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bthnclk
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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REVIEW OF AUDIOBOOK; NOVEMBER 17, 2018
Narrator: Kate Reading

3 1/2 stars

This dragged somewhat in the first half before finding its pace. The last quarter was good. A couple of things still bug me about the series, though:

Kay "sleeping with a married man", as Pete Marino throws out at her. I haven't much patience or sympathy for adulterers so this little fact about Kay and Denton made me stop following the series. But I came back because I peeked a few books down the line to see where it goes. Result: I decided to give Kay and the very married special agent a chance. Besides, I like Benton Wesley...but I'm dying of curiosity about his marriage and home life.

Pete Marino: I want to give him a kick in the ass so badly here. What's up with him and his jealousy over Kay's love life? It's not as if there was even a smidgen of anything but a professional one between him and Kay. At no time, from Book 1 till now, did Kay ever give him cause to think their relationship could become more. And this book doesn't explain Marino's infatuation and refusal to let go of it, but this, as well as Lucy's thread, develops over several books so I'm bracing myself for more Marino stupidity. Hopefully, he will come to his senses.

I was lost in several parts because of the overly technical details regarding autopsies and corpses. I'm not sure if they were necessary other than to show the author knows her stuff. It was all lost on me and could be entirely hogwash for all I know, and care.

I didn't care for Kate Reading's narration as there was no differentiation between the characters' voices and I couldn't tell, at times, whether it was Kay or Wesley speaking.

Overall though, I enjoyed this more than I expected to, given the slow beginning, and I'm glad I've decided to keep the series on my TBR list.
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