The Body Farm (novel)

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The Body Farm
Patricia Cornwell - The Body Farm.jpg
First edition
Author Patricia Cornwell
LanguageEnglish
Series Kay Scarpetta
Genre Crime fiction
Publisher Scribner
Publication date
1994
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
ISBN 0-684-19597-6
OCLC 43377603
Preceded by Cruel and Unusual  
Followed by From Potter's Field  

The Body Farm is a crime fiction novel by Patricia Cornwell. It is the fifth book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.

Contents

Plot summary

Kay Scarpetta is called in to assist in the investigation of the brutal murder of 11-year-old Emily Steiner in rural North Carolina, whose murder resembles the handiwork of a serial killer who has eluded the FBI for years. Scarpetta is joined by her ingenious and 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.

Characters in The Body Farm

Victims

Other deaths

Major themes

Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Cornwell</span> American crime writer (born 1956)

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 120 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.

A body farm is a research facility where decomposition of humans and animals can be studied in a variety of settings. The initial facility was conceived by anthropologist William M. Bass in 1981 at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Bass was interested in studying the decomposition of a human corpse from the time of death to the time of decay. The aim was to gain a better understanding of the decomposition process, permitting the development of techniques for extracting information such as the timing and circumstances of death from human remains. Body farm research is of particular interest in forensic anthropology and related disciplines, and has applications in the fields of law enforcement and forensic science. By placing the bodies outside to face the elements, researchers are able to get a better understanding of the decomposition process.

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The University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility, better known as the Body Farm and sometimes seen as the Forensic Anthropology Facility, was conceived in 1971 and established in 1972 by anthropologist William M. Bass as the first facility for the study of decomposition of human remains. It is located a few miles from downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, behind the University of Tennessee Medical Center, and is part of the Forensic Anthropology Center, which was established by Dr. Bass in 1987.

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References

  1. "Body Farm Team Digs into Soil Underneath a Decomposing Body". Forensic Magazine. August 18, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2024.