The Body Farm

The Body Farm is a crime novel by Patricia Cornwell, published in 1994. It is the fifth book in her series starring Dr. Kay Scarpetta, the chief medical examiner, and it belongs to the forensic fiction tradition that Cornwell developed throughout the series, with its emphasis on scientific method.

The story begins with the brutal murder of Emily Steiner, an eleven-year-old girl in rural North Carolina. The crime resembles the work of a serial killer who has eluded the FBI for years, and Scarpetta is called in to help with the investigation. She is joined by her niece Lucy, an FBI intern with a gift for computers and a rebellious streak, who soon finds herself entangled in professional and personal conflicts.

To advance the case, Scarpetta turns to a clandestine research facility in Tennessee known as "The Body Farm," where human decomposition is studied and methods for estimating the time of death are developed, such as the study of insect activity. This scientific dimension is one of the defining features of the novel and of the series as a whole.

The book was well received by readers and reinforced Cornwell's reputation in the genre, although its treatment of certain characters also sparked debate. Its title refers to the real University of Tennessee facility, founded by the anthropologist William M. Bass, which inspired the novel.