Rating: 
Summary: this novel is a travesty
Review: Patricia cornwell has gone round the bend or is just trying to get a big paycheck at her fan's expense. This not a novel but is more reminiscent of a 1930's serial. There is no focus and makes little sense. We are left waiting at the end for the next novel which should have a warning of "to be continued." I will never waste money on another of her books but still consider her novels such as All That Remains as one of the finest examples of contemporary mystery. She needs to get back to her form of ten years ago.
Rating:
Summary: Really Disappointed
Review: I have enjoyed Ms. Cornwell's previous books, that when I saw that she had written a New Scarpetta novel I immediately bought it. The book was a terrible disspointment. The story line, if you can call it that was never really established. It was nothing morning than snipits of various charters lines which really went nowhere. New potentially interesting characters were introduced but they were never really connected to the story line in any meaningful way. The chapters were two pages long and resembled notes for ideas which were never put together or developed. Ms. Cronwell's writings have evolved into dark tales of the seriously mentally ill rather than on Ms. Scarpetta's talents as a forensic pathologist. Too bad I was really looking forward to a good read, this book was not.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: I recently waited a very long time at my library,to obtain this latest book in the Scarpetta series.I also recomended her to a friend.After reading this novel, I wrote my friend and told her to try another novel and not to bother with her latest.
Patricia Cornwell obviously has lost her touch with this novel.It was everything I could do to finish.Her build up to the climax was faulty and her use of the third person for her characters was very distracting and diffinately left me wanting to do a rewrite myself.
I wonder at her editors, was this the end product for them?Or did they try and fail at any changes.
As another reviewer observed, there was very little of the forensic information that has captivated myself and others who bought her books.At the end, it left so many unanswered questions and a diffinate bad taste.If she is planning to continue with this character, then she should reconsider.I would not buy or even go to the trouble of trying to read any more of her books.This was a very big disapointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Blow Fly
Review: While eagerly anticipating this release, I was edgy about the lengthy span between Scarpetta novels. After borrowing the book from my area library, I was disappointed in the fragmentation of the story. A new residence for Kay and Rose, continuation of the malignant evil of the Chandonne twins, a potential new friend for Lucy...none held my interest. I wanted the forensic leads, the puzzling threads of evidence, Kay cooking when she is stressed. I would go back to reading the first five Scarpetta novels before I would bother with Blow Fly. Jean Baptiste is out there, perhaps intent on eradicating Benton for real the next time. I hope this storyline is put to rest in the next installment.
Rating:
Summary: Can't believe I bothered to finish the book...
Review: I kept thinking it would get better and I gave her the benefit of the doubt, because I enjoyed previous books by Cornwell. But I agree with others that are also tired of the wolf man character, and I missed the forensic science piece that always made her books so compelling. A huge disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Don't bother . . . .
Review: Either Cornwell has lost her touch, or is off her meds. This Scarpetta novel is as bad as Hornet's Nest and Southern Cross. The ever-changing inner perspective of the characters (Kay, Lucy, Marino, Benton, Jean Baptiste) was just annoying. I am surprised we didn't get a chapter from the dog's point of view. The plot didn't seem to going anywhere, then all the loose ends were hastily tied up in the last 20 pages. A lot of the plot devices were just plain stupid (the kid and crooked US attorney "just happen" to be on the plane with Kay - yeah right!) Someone do a post-mortem - because the Kay Scarpetta we loved is dead. She's been killed off by her egotistical creator. This boodk at the top of the bestseller lists, but that is due to Cornwell's past reputation and shouldn't be taken as a indication that one should waste time reading this piece of tripe.
Rating:
Summary: Below Average
Review: I've read all of the Scarpetta novels and this one is just plain bad. It was more like a soap opera novel than anything else and I'm hoping Cornwell will get back to putting Scarpetta doing what she does best.
Rating: 
Summary: Not her best
Review: There's something compulsively readable about Patricia Cornwell, even at her worst. Though her brilliant forensic pathologist, Kay Scarpetta, has gotten increasingly earnest, self-righteous and humorless over the last few books, my annoyance hasn't hindered the turning of the pages. And, while this latest is a bit of a slog, I eagerly await the next. Scarpetta, after the unhappy debacle concluding "The Last Precinct" is now a private forensic consultant. Still mired in her grief over her slain FBI lover, she is called in to consult on a Louisiana cold case, because of a letter the coroner received from a serial killer on death row - the repulsive Jean-Baptiste Chandonne. The outcast "wolfman" of the ruthless French crime family, long obsessed with Scarpetta, Chandonne has been busy with his letter writing, much like a boy poking a hornet's nest. What results is a page-turning mess, which involves Chandonne's twin brother ("Black Notice") on a serial-killing rampage which dovetails with Scarpetta's cold case, a conspiracy of unbelievable complexity and motivation, and some very dubious black ops work. Trouble is, if you don't read this one, you'll never figure out what's going on in the next one. As for newcomers (are there any?), start with something good, like her Edgar winning debut "Post Mortem."
Rating:
Summary: An unfortunate disappointment
Review: I read some of the reviews here on Amazon before picking up a copy of "Blow Fly". I preferred to go about the book in the most objective way possible. The first three hundred pages were somewhat good. The pace of the story was fast. I didn't mind the little summaries from the previous Scarpetta novels. However, by page 350 or so the pace of the story slowed down. I also found Nic Robillard's story distracting at times and wish that the author would have minimized her presence a bit because it takes away from Kay Scarpetta's own drama. I also believe that Jay Talley's and Bev Kiffin's demise came too quickly. These characters were disposed of in the fastest way possible and it's too bad because they were too compelling for this cheap brush-off and I honestly felt cheated as a reader. I was also troubled by Jean-Baptiste Chandonne's escape from prison. It didn't feel elaborate enough. That, too, felt easy in comparison to the great detail Ms. Cornwell has presented in earlier works like "Postmortem". I'm also confused about Jean-Baptiste Chandonne's ability to "see". In "Black Notice" Jean Baptiste Chandonne was blinded when Kay Scarpetta threw acid in his face but now in "Blow Fly" he can see. Are we supposed to assume, then, that Chandonne has ESP? That he now has extra-sensory perception that allows him to "see" things even when he's not there, like the way he could visit France even though he was sitting in a Texas prison? I honestly feel that Ms. Cornwell could have done better with this novel. While the short chapter technique she's adopted helped push the story's pace in the first three hundred pages, that doesn't help much towards the end. I only hope that in her next installment of the Kay Scarpetta series, she does a much better job. She's done excellent work before. Her most recent good work in the Scarpetta series was The Last Precinct. After that, it seems, that the author hit a low. I read "Blow Fly" in its entirety because I'm a completist. I wanted to see what would happen to Kay Scarpetta after she quit her position as Chief Medical Examiner. In spite of the disappointment that is "Blow Fly" I do look forward to the next Scarpetta installment, as long as the author and her editors take more time to correct any mistakes and make certain that the next book is not a disappointment, like this one.
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Author, But...
Review: This book fails to live up to the standards we have come to expect from Patricia Cornwell. It is as if someone else wrote this book. Perhaps after the aptly named "Isle of Dogs" and the non-fiction Jack the Ripper book, she lost touch with Scarpetta and how to write her. Cornwell abandoned her usual style of writing her hero in the first person, and in so doing lost her focus. Gone are the things that made Kay Scarpetta so compelling--her investigation skills, her caring for those close to her, her cooking. Simply as a work of fiction, it is a book that spends 400 pages on its set-up, and only a few paragraphs on the payoff. This is not a good book in any sense. It seems that Cornwell may be spending too much time on "Prime Time Live", and not enough on what made her so popular. Until then, the reaser may want to spend time reading Lisa Scottoline instead.
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