The Body Farm

The Body Farm

By; Patricia Cornwell

The novel, The Body Farm, written by Patricia Cornwell, follows the life of a forensic pathologist as she investigates the murder of a child. Forensic pathologist, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, works in conjunction with the FBI Investigative Support Unit, to find and preserve evidence that others have missed. During the investigation Dr. Scarpetta finds photographic evidence of a mark on the body that was previously looked over by local investigators. This causes her to fight with the local judge to have the body exhumed. In exhuming the body Dr. Scarpetta finds many different kinds of forensic evidence that will help to solve the case, and find the child's murder. Dr. Scarpetta uses the latest technology to categorize dust particles and plant enzymes, as well as, finding the maker of unique duct tape. The main solving factor of this case is a mark on the buttock of the child. To find the cause of this mark Dr. Scarpetta recruits the help of Dr. Lyall Shade, head of the anthropology department at The University of Tennessee. Dr. Shade runs the Decay Research Facility, also known as The Body Farm. At The Body Farm, suspected possible items were placed under a fresh corpse body, to verify how the mark was made on the body, and exactly what left the mark.

Cornwell's intention, in publishing this novel, is to give readers an understanding and show the importance of forensics in crime investigation. In this story, the forensic pathologist, Dr. Scarpetta, is the only person who has any idea of what has happened to the child. If it wasn't for her attention to detail, the murderer would have never been found. Dr. Scarpetta is responsible for every detail that is missed by someone else. She is looks at all the details surrounding the case, and comes up with clues to the crime when there is nothing left to look at.

Cornwell also emphasizes the importance of The Body Farm, which is a real research facility at the University of Tennessee. Without the help of researchers at The Body Farm, Dr. Scarpetta would have never known what the mark on the child's buttock was from. With their help she was able to verify that it was the mark left by a quarter that had been under the body for about one week. This fact solved the case for Dr. Scarpetta, and pointed out who the murderer was.

This book was written very well. The