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A review by qu33nofbookz
The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell
1.0
I hated this book! I liked the first four in the series and thought I'd enjoy this one too but alas I was so turned off I am seriously considering if I want to read anymore in this series or just give up here and now. There were just so many bad things about this book, it started from the title and shit went downhill from there. I may not have a medical, criminal/law enforcement, or lawyers degree but that doesn't mean I'm an idiot.
First the book is titled The Body Farm. This would imply that it (the body farm) would be a vital part of the story...it isn't. It is mentioned briefly at first explaining what it is in no more than a page. Then it is featured for maybe a total of a page in a half, two tops and it's so disappointing. The book should have been called Super Kay or Super Scarpetta saves the day and everyone else is an idiot.
The main character did a complete Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde routine from the previous books. This book is were we also see that her age seems to have frozen in time. Also other characters seem way off from the last book.
Kay and Marino are helping Benton with a murder that looks like it was committed by Temple Gault, the previous books villain. Kay is now a consultant for the FBI and called in to assist them on this case as it might be related to one of her previous cases. First Kay is a medical examiner not a detective. Yet through out this books she acts as detective, forensic investigator, CSI collector and crime scene analyst. She also has a law degree and this confuses me because she should know that by doing every job there can be in a criminal case short of taking it to trial in such an unprofessional manner such as collecting evidence without proper procedure could make sure the case never sees the inside of a court room. Also her close personal involvement with suspects and investigators could be seen as a conflict of interest in court. The side story in this book has to do with her niece Lucy and a break in at a top secure FBI lab.
Some things that annoyed the hell out of me about this book and has turned me from liking Kay as a strong complainant female into hating her with a passion and hoping she got offed were numerous.
First Kay is just a consultant on this FBI case yet she spends most of her time either in town helping to solve it or with Lucy who is accused of a crime at the FBI training academy. Her real job is as Chief Medical Examiner of Richmond, Virginia. Now correct me if I am wrong but that entails doing autopsies and the study of the human body and overseeing her lab and other's work. At the beginning of the book she gives her findings to the task force that hired her and that should be that. But no, she stays and takes over role of detective and CSI. Now if I were her boss or the people who appointed her the job I would fire her. Many bodies a week and even a day can be investigated and in need of autopsy and Kay's position serves a large busy area. As the chief medical examiner she should be doing or overseeing almost all if not all the cases and the paperwork. Yet she acts as if she has nothing to do but this one case. We see that she has two underlings who have been keeping up her job with autopsies but who is doing the paperwork? She does everything but her real job and no one calls her on this or has a problem with her taking over their jobs even though she would be unqualified.
Second Kay seems to be superhuman in the fact that she is so smart everyone else looks like an idiot with an IQ no higher than a first grader. Also she doesn't sleep much in this book and yet is at the top of her game at all times? Only she can uncover a spy/mole in a top clearance FBI lab/think tank/new shiny computer data base system. The FBI must do background checks and vet all employees and yet they fail to look even remotely into a new trainee employee who they give top clearance to right out of the gate? Only Kay has instincts and notices details that to even an average detective would stand out? In a town with multiple cops and visiting FBI can Kay find suspects and question everyone and get real answers? Only Kay knows how to analyze a crime scene and collect and interpret proper evidence? Only she can put together random evidence found and know exactly what it is, where it came from and how it fits into the crime. Only she can find evidence (which is obvious and often in plain sight) and doesn't tell the investigators, she must send it out to labs herself and only tell anyone when it suits her, forget that it will never fly in court!
Third the Lucy angle/side story. Lucy is now 21 (how is a mystery to me since when the series started she was 10 and only a few years have passed in the books timeline) and a trainee at the FBI academy. Another question is what exactly is she doing? The FBI won't take anyone under 21 and it's suggested that she has been doing things for them since she was 18 or so. Also you can't have a job with the FBI and have the clearance she does without first going through and passing the academy to which you get an assignment after. Also Kay hasn't spent all that much time with Lucy, it's mentioned in all the books and yet she considers Lucy her daughter and when things go wrong wonder what she has done wrong to make Lucy turn out so poorly. Kay questions Lucy's sexuality through out the book and is judgmental of her supposed relationship with a fellow trainee. This comes from 10 seconds of seeing Lucy sitting in a picnic area and having two non sexual, could be work related sentences spoken between them and getting her cigarette lit by this woman. This is the bases to which she come to the terms Lucy must be gay...because another women lit her cigarette! Also she accuses Lucy of being an alcoholic! Lucy who in the previous book and this one seems to be very health conscience (no explanation why she had that cigarette since we don't she her with one or smoking for the rest of the book) has shown no tendency for alcohol and now out of the blue she is a drunk because Kay sees her in a bar having a drink. No one else noticed her drinking or has seen her drunk (she works for the FBI in top clearance projects someone would notice), and it only comes to light when Kay is digging into why she might be doing bad things? She pesters Lucy about it like she does her personal life/sexuality and thinks it's all up to her to get Lucy to admit it and fix it. Leave the girl alone! Also in accusing Lucy of being a drunk she might want to look in a mirror, every time she isn't on duty she seems to be having a drink herself and hard liquor at that.
Forth Kay's judgmental attitude and making a mountain out of a mole hill of everyone's faults but her own. She nags and criticizes the hell out of Marino's habits but offers no support or tips to her supposed partner and friend whom she sees as resenting her yet at the same time is probably in love with her? She gets upset and on his case about getting close to a women (the victims of the case's mother who is later a suspect) and criticizes the relationship at every turn talking about him behind his back with Benton. All the while she has started an affair with Benton, who brought her into the case and is married! She has no qualms about this either but is judgmental of everyone else's relationships? When she starts the affair she and Benton are talking about how they would feel if they lost their loved ones and Benton says he'd hate to lose his wife and child then just hops into bed with Kay and has no regrets? Kay looks at her actions and seems perfectly fine with them even though she is friends with Benton's wife. Her sister shows up after Lucy has and accident and Kay calls her a narcissist thinking only of herself yet she doesn't bother to look in the mirror and see that she is herself? Everything wrong with other characters she can and often does relate to herself and what could she have done or said or so on to/about them. Also she has turned into quite the bitch and whiner and a hypocrite. She used to be a good solid character now she's just annoying.
Lastly Kay can do anything and there are no consequences....and how has she not died from all the stupid common sense mistakes she makes let alone not be fired? Leaving her job for underlings for days at a time without checking in? Questioning suspects on her own (she is not a detective why is she even privy to suspects to question?) Going to investigate crime scenes on her own and collect evidence without proper equipment or procedure or back up or even telling someone where she is going? Confronting suspects alone? Not sharing this pertinent information only she can know and gather with the real people running the investigation? Knowing and discussing her supposed partner in trouble but no one helps so she goes alone and unarmed even thought she sleeps and even bathes with a gun next to her?
The whole side story was unbelievable and had me wanting to tear my hair out with how stupid it was and everyone involved in it was. The main story line was good but left out so many details and was stretched out too long. Also it was easy to guess who did it right away and was wrapped up rather quickly at the end for how long they dragged it out. Many lose ends left open. All total a very unsatisfying, annoying book with characters who were a 360 degree turn from the last book and who I wouldn't care to read about again if they don't resemble who they were in the previous books.
First the book is titled The Body Farm. This would imply that it (the body farm) would be a vital part of the story...it isn't. It is mentioned briefly at first explaining what it is in no more than a page. Then it is featured for maybe a total of a page in a half, two tops and it's so disappointing. The book should have been called Super Kay or Super Scarpetta saves the day and everyone else is an idiot.
The main character did a complete Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde routine from the previous books. This book is were we also see that her age seems to have frozen in time. Also other characters seem way off from the last book.
Kay and Marino are helping Benton with a murder that looks like it was committed by Temple Gault, the previous books villain. Kay is now a consultant for the FBI and called in to assist them on this case as it might be related to one of her previous cases. First Kay is a medical examiner not a detective. Yet through out this books she acts as detective, forensic investigator, CSI collector and crime scene analyst. She also has a law degree and this confuses me because she should know that by doing every job there can be in a criminal case short of taking it to trial in such an unprofessional manner such as collecting evidence without proper procedure could make sure the case never sees the inside of a court room. Also her close personal involvement with suspects and investigators could be seen as a conflict of interest in court. The side story in this book has to do with her niece Lucy and a break in at a top secure FBI lab.
Some things that annoyed the hell out of me about this book and has turned me from liking Kay as a strong complainant female into hating her with a passion and hoping she got offed were numerous.
First Kay is just a consultant on this FBI case yet she spends most of her time either in town helping to solve it or with Lucy who is accused of a crime at the FBI training academy. Her real job is as Chief Medical Examiner of Richmond, Virginia. Now correct me if I am wrong but that entails doing autopsies and the study of the human body and overseeing her lab and other's work. At the beginning of the book she gives her findings to the task force that hired her and that should be that. But no, she stays and takes over role of detective and CSI. Now if I were her boss or the people who appointed her the job I would fire her. Many bodies a week and even a day can be investigated and in need of autopsy and Kay's position serves a large busy area. As the chief medical examiner she should be doing or overseeing almost all if not all the cases and the paperwork. Yet she acts as if she has nothing to do but this one case. We see that she has two underlings who have been keeping up her job with autopsies but who is doing the paperwork? She does everything but her real job and no one calls her on this or has a problem with her taking over their jobs even though she would be unqualified.
Second Kay seems to be superhuman in the fact that she is so smart everyone else looks like an idiot with an IQ no higher than a first grader. Also she doesn't sleep much in this book and yet is at the top of her game at all times? Only she can uncover a spy/mole in a top clearance FBI lab/think tank/new shiny computer data base system. The FBI must do background checks and vet all employees and yet they fail to look even remotely into a new trainee employee who they give top clearance to right out of the gate? Only Kay has instincts and notices details that to even an average detective would stand out? In a town with multiple cops and visiting FBI can Kay find suspects and question everyone and get real answers? Only Kay knows how to analyze a crime scene and collect and interpret proper evidence? Only she can put together random evidence found and know exactly what it is, where it came from and how it fits into the crime. Only she can find evidence (which is obvious and often in plain sight) and doesn't tell the investigators, she must send it out to labs herself and only tell anyone when it suits her, forget that it will never fly in court!
Third the Lucy angle/side story. Lucy is now 21 (how is a mystery to me since when the series started she was 10 and only a few years have passed in the books timeline) and a trainee at the FBI academy. Another question is what exactly is she doing? The FBI won't take anyone under 21 and it's suggested that she has been doing things for them since she was 18 or so. Also you can't have a job with the FBI and have the clearance she does without first going through and passing the academy to which you get an assignment after. Also Kay hasn't spent all that much time with Lucy, it's mentioned in all the books and yet she considers Lucy her daughter and when things go wrong wonder what she has done wrong to make Lucy turn out so poorly. Kay questions Lucy's sexuality through out the book and is judgmental of her supposed relationship with a fellow trainee. This comes from 10 seconds of seeing Lucy sitting in a picnic area and having two non sexual, could be work related sentences spoken between them and getting her cigarette lit by this woman. This is the bases to which she come to the terms Lucy must be gay...because another women lit her cigarette! Also she accuses Lucy of being an alcoholic! Lucy who in the previous book and this one seems to be very health conscience (no explanation why she had that cigarette since we don't she her with one or smoking for the rest of the book) has shown no tendency for alcohol and now out of the blue she is a drunk because Kay sees her in a bar having a drink. No one else noticed her drinking or has seen her drunk (she works for the FBI in top clearance projects someone would notice), and it only comes to light when Kay is digging into why she might be doing bad things? She pesters Lucy about it like she does her personal life/sexuality and thinks it's all up to her to get Lucy to admit it and fix it. Leave the girl alone! Also in accusing Lucy of being a drunk she might want to look in a mirror, every time she isn't on duty she seems to be having a drink herself and hard liquor at that.
Forth Kay's judgmental attitude and making a mountain out of a mole hill of everyone's faults but her own. She nags and criticizes the hell out of Marino's habits but offers no support or tips to her supposed partner and friend whom she sees as resenting her yet at the same time is probably in love with her? She gets upset and on his case about getting close to a women (the victims of the case's mother who is later a suspect) and criticizes the relationship at every turn talking about him behind his back with Benton. All the while she has started an affair with Benton, who brought her into the case and is married! She has no qualms about this either but is judgmental of everyone else's relationships? When she starts the affair she and Benton are talking about how they would feel if they lost their loved ones and Benton says he'd hate to lose his wife and child then just hops into bed with Kay and has no regrets? Kay looks at her actions and seems perfectly fine with them even though she is friends with Benton's wife. Her sister shows up after Lucy has and accident and Kay calls her a narcissist thinking only of herself yet she doesn't bother to look in the mirror and see that she is herself? Everything wrong with other characters she can and often does relate to herself and what could she have done or said or so on to/about them. Also she has turned into quite the bitch and whiner and a hypocrite. She used to be a good solid character now she's just annoying.
Lastly Kay can do anything and there are no consequences....and how has she not died from all the stupid common sense mistakes she makes let alone not be fired? Leaving her job for underlings for days at a time without checking in? Questioning suspects on her own (she is not a detective why is she even privy to suspects to question?) Going to investigate crime scenes on her own and collect evidence without proper equipment or procedure or back up or even telling someone where she is going? Confronting suspects alone? Not sharing this pertinent information only she can know and gather with the real people running the investigation? Knowing and discussing her supposed partner in trouble but no one helps so she goes alone and unarmed even thought she sleeps and even bathes with a gun next to her?
The whole side story was unbelievable and had me wanting to tear my hair out with how stupid it was and everyone involved in it was. The main story line was good but left out so many details and was stretched out too long. Also it was easy to guess who did it right away and was wrapped up rather quickly at the end for how long they dragged it out. Many lose ends left open. All total a very unsatisfying, annoying book with characters who were a 360 degree turn from the last book and who I wouldn't care to read about again if they don't resemble who they were in the previous books.