The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell

Description

Bibliographic Details

• Author: Patricia Cornwell
• Title: The Body Farm (A Kay Scarpetta Series)
• Publisher: ‎ Charles Scribner's Sons
• Publication Date: September 12, 1994
• Language: ‎ English
• Format: Hardcover – 387 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎ 0684195976
• ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0684195971
• Item Weight: ‎ 1.6 pounds
• Dimensions: ‎ 6.75 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
• Book Condition: Used – Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

Synopsis:

Patricia Cornwell’s crime fiction, The Body Farm (1994), is the fifth book in the lengthy Dr. Kay Scarpetta series. Like all books in the series, The Body Farm follows Dr. Kay Scarpetta, the Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia and her use of the latest in forensic investigative science to solve a grisly murder case.

The story begins at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) training academy in Quantico, Virginia. Scarpetta and the FBI’s Investigative Support Unit consult on the brutal murder of eleven-year-old Emily Steiner. Five days after disappearing, her body was found in a nearby lake naked with pieces of flesh cut out and a bullet wound to the head, with signs of gagging and sexual assault. The work matches that of serial killer Temple Brooks Gault, who is one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted, and a killer whom Scarpetta had failed to capture in a previous novel in the series. The guilt continues to haunt her. Even though a local doctor has already performed an autopsy, Scarpetta decides to have the body exhumed in the hopes of uncovering a clue.

However, distractions befall the investigation, providing false leads. Scarpetta, along with her love interest, FBI Unit Chief Benton Wesley investigate the apparent suicide of local FBI agent Max Ferguson, en route back to North Carolina from Quantico. Found wearing women’s underwear, he appears to be the victim of an accidental hanging after a night of autoeroticism. What’s more, the missing pieces of Emily Steiner’s body are in his refrigerator. Meanwhile, his local contact suffers a heart attack and is sent to the hospital. Other leads include a school friend of Emily’s and the school’s janitor, who is rumored to have perhaps developed feelings for the girl and is a suspect of a hit-and-run at another school.

About the Author:

In 1990, Patricia Cornwell sold her first novel, Postmortem, while working at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. An auspicious debut, it went 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.

Growing into an international phenomenon, the Scarpetta series won 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.

Today, Cornwell’s novels and iconic characters are known around the world. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Cornwell has written the definitive nonfiction account of Jack the Ripper’s identity, cookbooks, a children’s book, a biography of Ruth Graham, and two other fictional series based on the characters Win Garano and Andy Brazil.

While writing Quantum, Cornwell spent two years researching space, technology, and robotics at Captain Calli Chase’s home base, NASA’s Langley Research Center, and studied cutting-edge law enforcement and security techniques with the Secret Service, the US Air Force, NASA Protective Services, Scotland Yard, and Interpol.

Cornwell was born in Miami. She grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston and Los Angeles.