Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Speedy, slick, scary crime thriller. Review: Dr Kay Scarpetta, Cornwell's recurring character in almost ten books, investigates the kidnap, rape, torture and murder of a little girl in North Carolina. Assisted by Pete Marino, homicide detective and Benton Wesley, criminal profiler with the FBI, she must find the killer before he/she strikes again. Her investigation seems to be getting nowhere, until she visits a strange science laboratory nicknamed The Body Farm. Look out for gruesome descriptive detail, a fast moving, exciting plot and a totally unexpected ending. This book is a great read, as are all of ornwell's books.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: A Very Good Place to Start Review: The Body Farm is my first Patricia Cornwell read. It was recomended to me by a person who works in a bookstore. He said it was not absolutely necessary to read them "In order". (Note Postmortem is the first in the "series") Our antagonist is Dr. Kay Scarpetta, who is the chief Medical examiner for Virginia. She is also a lawyer and a consultant for the FBI. This story, that centers around the murder of a young girl leads us in many directions, and gives us the chance to follow many leads. The book is littered with all sorts of fascinating behind the scenes forensic activity. So if your into that sort of thing, such as analyzing photos, evidence samples, and the study of the time of death you'll enjoy a lot of the detail that goes into the development of the investigation. This book also enables to experience many of Dr. Scarpetta's relationships. We are able to see her interact with her niece Lucy, an FBI "intern", Benton Wesley a FBI collegue and romantic interest, and Pete Marino a detective from Virginia. These are all charcters that appear to be present in many of her stories. With out giving too much a way, the story uunfolds rather similarly to an onion, the way you would peel back layer upon layer to discover well in this case "who done it". The story does not drag at all, even with all the technical mumbo jumbo which was even easy for a lay-man to understand, and is filled with lot's of "page turning" suspense. Let me say, I enjoyed it so much so that I immediately picked up "Unnatural Exposure" and plowed through that one too.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Good Scarpetta read Review: This book will leave you a little chilled but isn't that what you want in a good mystery. This is a decent read in the Kay Scarpetta series.
Rating: ![3 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-3-0.gif) Summary: Serviceable Enough but Flawed and Unspectacular Review: A young girl is murdered rather nastily in a small North Carolina town. Suspicion hangs over Temple Gault, the still at large serial killer who did the bad stuff in "Cruel and Unusual". Then one of the investigating cops is also found dead, apparently from autostrangulation in a solitary erotic misadventure. Kay Scarpetta aided by her friend FBI bigshot Benton Wesley and her old associate Captain Pete Marino are soon on the case. Both these gents have a serious thing for her and working relationships soon complicate. As does her relationship with Lucy, her computing genius niece, who is also working for the Feds but who has got into some dubious company and is overdoing the drink. I rather liked "Cruel and Unusual" the first of this series I read so followed it up by reading this. It was OK. But if Cornwell belongs, as some evidently suppose, in the first division of crime writers it's not because of this book. It drags a little. And there are episodes in it that leave the reader rather dissatisfied, unwilling seriously to believe that THAT character would ever be likely to behave THAT way. It's well enough done - and seems impressively well researched - and would make an decent enough diversion if you're looking for something to read on the 'plane. But it didn't strike me as one of those crime novels that lovers of the genre should positively reproach themselves for omitting to read.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: One of my Favorite Patricia Cornwell Books Review: It is exciting, fast moving, thrilling and keeps you on the edge of your seat. I love the depth in which Patricia Cornwell delves into her characters - we've seen Benton and Marino up close and personal, at their best and at their worst, now it's our turn to see Lucy. As is her usual approach, the characters are colorful and dramatic (can you see Pete Marino in any other light?). With this title, I wasn't sure what I was picking up to read -- it gave me the mental image of a Frankenstein type book. The Body Farm is actually a research facility in Tennessee where Scarpetta discovers gruesome experiments that may lead to answering her questions and to finding Gault. So my original assessment from just the title wasn't too far off base. With Cornwell writing it, you can be assured of a wild and exciting ride. Definitely a recommended addition to your Kay Scarpetta library!
Rating: ![3 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-3-0.gif) Summary: Scarpetta's kinda dull Review: This was my first Cornwell book, and overall I enjoyed it, but two complaints. First, Dr. Scarpetta, our heroine, is kinda dull. She's prudish, unfriendly, and lonely. But I guess all of this makes her human, though not much fun to read about. Second, I solved the case before she did. So the ending wasn't a surprise. I liked this book well enough to read another Cornwell. It was short, and moved fast, and a nice lunch-break read...low on stress and not overly demanding of the reader.
Rating: ![1 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-1-0.gif) Summary: Extremely forgettable Review: I read this book sometime ago and was so dissapointed I don't have the words to emphasize it enough. I had heard so much about Patricia Cornwell and was looking forward to another author whose books I could sink my teeth into (a page turner, it isn't) but only finished this book because I had started it. It was so bad, I can't even remember the plot anymore!!
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: A Chilling and Gripping Tale! Review: As with her previous books. this book is as chilling and gripping as we expect from Patricia Cornwell. I found it extremely disturbing because of the age of the deceased - an eleven year old girl. As Kay starts to uncover the secrets that forensics tell, she is faced with a murderer that is even beyond her comprehension. I really like how the main characters are developing - Kay, Marino, Benton and Lucy. It's almost like sitting down with old friends to open one of these books, but I'm still finding that I have to read them in one sitting. I can't put them down.
Rating: ![3 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-3-0.gif) Summary: Below average for Scarpetta series Review: I liked most of the Scarpetta books so far, but this one is below average. For some reason Patricia Cornwell decided to mix murder mystery with cheap third-rate romance/jeolousy story. That portition of the book took away quite a bit from the main plot and made the whole story cheaper and somewhat boring. If you like the rest of the Scarpetta books, go ahead and read this one as well to get the complete storyline. If you are just sampling Cornwell's books, this is not a good one to start with. I am giving the book 3 starts since there is still a decent plot and the writing is mostly pretty good, although it is more 2.5 stars - as I said, "below average". I was glad to see that in the next book the romance/jeolousy thing was given less consideration.
Rating: ![1 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-1-0.gif) Summary: Not a lot to say........ Review: poo-poo Not much else to say except that it's a tragic waste of paper... I couldn't get past the first few chapters and I tried on several occasions.
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