Body Farm (Kay Scarpetta Series #5) by Patricia Cornwell

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(Mass Market Paperback - Reprint)

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Synopsis

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.

Annotation

Dr. Kay Scarpetta, consulting pathologist for the FBI Forensic Science Unit, must deal with the truly horrific as she seeks to understand the murder of an eleven-year-old girl in rural North Carolina. The details remind her of a serial killer who has eluded the unit for years. What is required is a series of grisly experiments at a little known facility called the Body Farm. Scarpetta must re-interpret some badly botched evidence and interpret the forensic hieroglyphics to reveal an answer that is as stunning as it is horrifying. "Cornwell seems to get better and better."- -Los Angeles Times. 320pp.

Publishers Weekly

Cornwell ( Body of Evidence ; All That Remains ) casts a wider, surer narrative net in the latest case set for her increasingly complex heroine, Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia. As an FBI consultant, Scarpetta investigates the North Carolina murder of 11-year-old Emily Steiner, whose mutilation suggests the M.O. of an escaped killer met previously in Cruel and Unusual. Forensic clues from the body's second autopsy prompt Scarpetta to request that certain experiments be made at the University of Tennessee's Decay Research Facility, known as the Body Farm. Meanwhile, she, Pete Marino of the Richmond, Va., police, and her new love interest, FBI Unit Chief Benton Wesley investigate the apparent suicide (from autoerotic asphyxiation) of the local FBI agent in charge of the case. Then, Scarpetta's computer-whiz niece Lucy, working at FBI headquarters at Quantico, is charged with violating security. During her travels between North Carolina and Virginia, Scarpetta worries about both the less-than-forthcoming Lucy and Marino, who becomes emotionally entangled with Emily's beautiful stricken mother. Results at the Body Farm lead her to a convincing, if abrupt, resolution. Deeper characterization and a more intricate plot mark this fifth in a consistently compelling series. 500,000 first printing; paperback rights to Berkley; audio rights to Simon & Schus ter; Literary Guild selection. (Oct.)

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Biography

Readers of Patricia Cornwell's crime novels need a strong stomach, both for the gruesome details and the suspenseful turns of her plots. With medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, Cornwell created a cool and compelling heroine who repeatedly draws readers back for more.

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Customer Reviews

Body Farmby Anonymous

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May 25, 2006: ?There is no other in the world, mine was the only one? - Emily Dickinson Nothing ever happens in the small rural town of Black Mountain, nothing until the shocking murder of eleven-year-old Emily Steiner. Patricia Cornwell, a New York Times Best Seller, reintroduces Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a forensic scientist who plays the lead role in most of Cornwell?s works, in the exhilarating novel, The Body Farm. The suspense o this novel will keep you on the edge of your seat and the mystery concealed within its pages will ensure that you stay hooked from the very beginning. Emily Steiner?s case becomes increasingly difficult with the introduction of several peculiar pieces of evidence, such as: the mysterious mark found on Emily?s body, the custom made fluorescent orange duct tape, the skin samples found in a dead sheriff?s freezer and the unusual residue discovered lingering on the girls body. This evidence leads to several new suspects in the crime and makes the truth of the case more difficult to decipher. The hysterical, attention-seeking, mother of the victim is a major setback to the case, and ends up attracting the attention of the lead investigator in her daughter?s murder. In attempting to find justice for Emily Steiner, Dr. Scarpetta finds her personal life growing in difficulty. While working on the case, she is introduced to many people who lead to several new interesting relationships, and a scandal at the high security facility where she works involving her niece, who later on nearly gets killed in a car crash, has her more than occupied. Yet Kay finds herself deeply embedded in this convoluted path of leads, dead ends, incriminating evidence, suspects, and criminals. Only one combination can be right, but the question is, can Kay figure it all out before time is up? There is only one way to tell. This story line?s many twists and turns are sure to have your mind racing with questions and possible theories. It is guaranteed, however, that most of your theories will be wrong. This story will keep your nose in the book its several twists are intriguing, but the ending is the most shocking of all.

Scarpetta Rules!!!!!!by Anonymous

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January 29, 2004: This was a really good book! Scarpetta is by far the most interesting character of any book I've ever read!


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