The Body Farm (novel)

Infobox Book |
name = The Body Farm
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Patricia Cornwell
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States of America
language = English
series = Kay Scarpetta
genre = Crime fiction
publisher = Sphere
release_date = September 1995
media_type = Print (hardcover, paperback)
pages = 387
isbn = 978-0-7515-3047-6
preceded_by = Cruel and Unusual
followed_by = From Potter's Field

"The Body Farm" is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell.

Plot introduction

"The Body Farm" is the fifth book of the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series by author Patricia Cornwell. In it, Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta tries to find the killer of 11-year-old Emily Steiner, who appears to be the victim of a serial killer Scarpetta has encountered before.

Explanation of the novel's title

The novel, and its title, were inspired by the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility, which is used in the study of forensic anthropology, in particular human decomposition.

Plot summary

Kay Scarpetta is called in to assist in the investigation of the brutal murder of eleven-year-old Emily Steiner in rural North Carolina, whose murder is chillingly reminiscent of the handiwork of a serial killer who has eluded the FBI for years. Scarpetta is joined by her ingenious, rebellious niece, Lucy, an FBI intern with a promising future in Quantico's computer engineering facility. To help with the investigation, Scarpetta turns to a clandestine research facility in Tennessee known as the Body Farm. There she finds answers to Emily Steiner's murder—and evidence that paints a picture of a crime more horrifying than she could have imagined.

Characters in "The Body Farm"

*"Kay Scarpetta" - Chief Medical Examiner.
*"Benton Wesley" - FBI Profiler. He started having romantic relationships with "Kay," despite being married.
*"Lucy Farinelli" - "Kay's" niece. On internship at the FBI Academy, Quantico. Had a romantic lesbian relationship with "Carrie Grethen." However, she was sabotaged, although she was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing. Got into a car accident, under the influence of alcohol, in which "Kay's" Mercedes-Benz E500 was wrecked. It was later revealed that she was ran off the road by "Denesa Steiner."
*"Pete Marino" - Captain in the Richmond Police Department.
*"Lieutenant Hershel Mote" - Lieutenant in the Black Mountain Police Department. Was at "Max Ferguson's" house, after finding "Max" dead, he had chest pains and dizziness, which will later on lead to a cardiac arrest.
*"Dr. Thomas Katz" - Forensic Scientist the Body Farm. "He also was an expert in time of death, which he researched just as diligently with ways and means that were not commonly known to the hoi polloi. His laboratory is called The Body Farm." [The Body Farm, p.64.]
*"Carrie Grethen" - "Lucy's" romantic interest at Quantico, however she was using "Lucy's" identity to gain entry into classified areas, in order to avoid suspicion.

Victims

*"Emily Steiner" - 11 year old girl. Murdered in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Her body was "nude. Upon close inspection by the Buncombe County medical examiner, it was determined she had been sexually assaulted, and had large dark shiny patches on her upper thighs, upper chest, and shoulder were areas of missing flesh. She also had been gagged and bound with blaze orange duct tape, her cause of death a single small-caliber gunshot wound to the back of the head." [The Body Farm, p.16.]
*"Max Ferguson" - State Bureau of Investigation Agent. When "Kay" arrived, "He was on his back, the size-D cups of a long-line black brassiere stuffed with socks that smelled faintly of musk. The pair of black nylon panties he had put on before he died had been pulled down around his hairy knees, and a condom still clung limply to his penis." [The Body Farm, p.59.] He asphyxiated on a hangman's noose, and was cut loose by "Mote" the moment he found him.
*"Emily's" kitten, "Socks" - A stray kitten that " Emily" started feeding. "She called her socks because she was pure black except for these perfect white paws." [The Body Farm, p.140.] "It died of a broken neck." [The Body Farm, p.141.]
*A 14 year old boy, in London - Modus operandi similar to "Eddie Heath's" case in "Cruel and Unusual." "Eradicated bite marks. Gunshot to the head, body displayed. Close enough." [The Body Farm, p.243.]

Other Deaths

*"Denesa Steiner" - Mother of "Emily Steiner." Killer of "Emily" and "Max Ferguson." She was killed by "Kay" after she barged into the room and saw "Denesa" "sitting placidly on the edge of the bed where "Marino" lay, a plastic trash bag over his head and taped around his neck." She grabbed "Marino's" "pistol off the table" and this prompted "Kay" to fire "Marino's" Winchester rifle, which she got from his car, and subsequently killed her. [The Body Farm, p.367.]

Major themes

* The hunt for the killer of 11-year-old Emily Steiner.

Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science

* The story is set around Lake Tomahawk in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
* The original "Body Farm" is the University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Facility located a few miles south of Knoxville, Tennessee, behind the University of Tennessee Medical Center. The facility was founded by anthropologist Dr. William M. Bass in 1971, after he found that no such facilities existed that specifically studied decomposition.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.patriciacornwell.com/ Author's Official Website]
* [http://www.deathsacre.com/ Death's Acre: Inside the Body Farm]