 | |
| Author | Patricia Cornwell |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Kay Scarpetta Mysteries |
| Genre | Crime |
| Publisher | G. P. Putnam's Sons |
Publication date | 2003 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| ISBN | 978-0-399-15089-0 |
| OCLC | 52891481 |
| 813/.54 22 | |
| LC Class | PS3553.O692 B576 2003 |
| Preceded by | The Last Precinct |
| Followed by | Trace |
Blow Fly is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell.
Blow Fly is the twelfth book of the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series by author Patricia Cornwell.
After her resignation as Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner and the horrifying events which threatened her life in The Last Precinct , Kay Scarpetta has abandoned her elegant home in Richmond, Virginia, and is quietly living in Florida, beginning to get some balance back in her life and slowly establishing herself as a private forensic consultant. (Her first class involves the blow fly, which sometimes lays eggs on corpses.) But her past will not let her rest, and her grief for Benton Wesley continues to grow, not diminish, as does the rage within Lucy, her niece. Then the architect of her changed fortunes contacts her from his cell on death row: deformed, blinded by Scarpetta's own actions, incarcerated in Texas' strongest prison, Jean-Baptiste Chandonne still has the ability to terrify. But, unknown to Scarpetta, there are other forces behind the wolfman's apparent actions, invisibly shepherding her and those closest to her towards eliminating those who threaten them all. It is all orchestrated by the one man in her life who knows every nuance of her soul. In Szczecin, Poland, Lucy and a colleague apparently commit a premeditated murder, using blow-fly larvae to alter the perceived time of death. The novel then ends with the killing of four further people by Scarpetta's associates.
Some reviewers considered this to be a "highly suspenseful read in which surprises explode and the characters move to another level of believability." [2] One finds that the book,"while not for the squeamish... is a tremendous read." [3] Others, however, as also noted in reviews for later books in the series, such as Trace, considered it to be disappointing. Gail Pennington of the St Louis Post Dispatch states that "even the most ardent Cornwell fans may reluctantly realize that enthusiasm for the Scarpetta series is mainly a relic of books past." [4]
In Blow Fly, we see a change in narrative style from the first-person narration of Kay herself to a third-person, omniscient, narrator. This device not only allows for more characters and their perspectives to come to the fore, but also marks a significant transformation in the way that the novels represent the criminal. Where previously the criminal's mind was never made available to the reader—thus intensifying their "otherness"—the later novels allow space to explore their point of view and uncover their motivations. [5]
This approach does, however, come in for criticism. One reviewer notes that "Blow Fly is written in 124 chapters, some as short as a few paragraphs, with close to a dozen shifting points of view. Everyone, it seems, has something to describe, and every bit of description gets equal weight, from a new outfit bought at Saks to a highly technical selection of handguns to the leisurely, sexually charged torture of a young woman. ("Every female character in "Blow Fly" is either miserable or doomed, adding weight to the frequent argument that Cornwell is not just anti-feminist, but anti-woman altogether.") [4]
Patricia Cornwell is an American crime writer. She is known for her best-selling novels featuring medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, of which the first was inspired by a series of sensational murders in Richmond, Virginia, where most of the stories are set. The plots are notable for their emphasis on forensic science, which has influenced later TV treatments of police work. Cornwell has also initiated new research into the Jack the Ripper killings, incriminating the popular British artist Walter Sickert. Her books have sold more than 100 million copies.
Kay Scarpetta is a fictional character inspired by former Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Marcella Farinelli Fierro MD (retired). She is the protagonist in a series of crime novels written by Patricia Cornwell noted for its use of recent forensic technology in Scarpetta's investigations.
Predator is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell.
Postmortem is a crime fiction novel by author Patricia Cornwell and is her debut novel. The first book of the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series, it received the 1991 Edgar Award for Best First Novel.
Trace is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell.
Body of Evidence is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell. It is the second book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.
All That Remains is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell. It is the third book of the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.
Cruel and Unusual is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell. It is the fourth book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.
The Body Farm is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell. It is the fifth book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.
From Potter's Field is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell. It is the sixth book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.
Cause of Death is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell. It is the seventh book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.
Unnatural Exposure is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell. It is the eighth book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series. The story is set in Richmond, Virginia and Ireland.
Déjà Dead is the first novel by Kathy Reichs starring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.
The Last Precinct is a crime novel by American author Patricia Cornwell, the eleventh in her Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.
Black Notice is a crime novel by American writer Patricia Cornwell. It is the tenth book of the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.
Point of Origin is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell. It is the ninth book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.
Scarpetta is a novel by Patricia Cornwell. It was published in 2008 by G. P. Putnam's Sons. The book is a continuation of Cornwell's popular Kay Scarpetta series.
Book of the Dead is a 2007 crime novel written by Patricia Cornwell. It is the fifteenth book in the popular Kay Scarpetta series and the fourth consecutive novel in the series to be written in third-person omniscient style, rather than Cornwell's traditional first-person narrative.
The Bone Bed is novel by Patricia Cornwell. It was published by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 2012. The book is a continuation of Cornwell's popular Kay Scarpetta series.
Dust is a 2013 crime novel written by crime author Patricia Cornwell, her 21st book by chronological order in the Kay Scarpetta series. It deals with the murder, of a young girl, which bears peculiar resemblance to numerous preceding deaths and puts the female protagonist, Dr Kay Scarpetta to stare in the face of what could possibly be a deep-seated, high-profile bureaucrat conspiracy and a plot which risks her own life at the mercy of a psychopathic serial killer.