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Blow Fly: A Kay Scarpetta Novel
 
 
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Blow Fly: A Kay Scarpetta Novel [Large Print] (Hardcover)

by Patricia D. Cornwell (Author) "DR. KAY SCARPETTA moves the tiny glass vial close to candlelight, illuminating a maggot drifting in a poisonous bath of ethanol ..." (more)
2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (534 customer reviews)

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

"Please don't go there. The past is the past," sighs New York Assistant District Attorney Jaime Berger, who herself was introduced in Cornwell's last Kay Scarpetta novel, The Last Precinct (2000). Alas, many of Cornwell's fans are bound to agree. One fascinating nonfiction bestseller (Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper, Case Closed) later, Cornwell now returns to Scarpetta, formerly Virginia's chief medical examiner. From the start, however, the formidable author is up against the equally formidable task of getting her charismatic main character off ice and back in action. We encounter Scarpetta languishing in a crumbling little rental house in Florida. She has taken refuge there and become a private forensic consultant after she was driven from her job for her alleged involvement in the murder of a deputy police chief. The violent death of her lover, Benton Wesley, the brilliant FBI psychological profiler, has left her filled with an unappeasable grief. When the coroner in Baton Rouge asks her advice on a cold case concerning an affluent woman found dead of a drug overdose in a seedy hotel, it seems little more than a diversion. Yet it becomes clear that the overdose may be related to a fresh string of serial killings. Also disturbing Scarpetta's somber peace is a troubling letter from someone out to kill her, the sick and obsessed death-row inmate Jean-Baptiste. When Scarpetta is at last allowed to get back to business, she is a feisty, independent powerhouse whose capacity to concentrate and observe rivals Sherlock Holmes's. But too much of this book is bound up in retrospective musings about events in previous books. The great Scarpetta, her fiery crime-busting niece, Lucy, and a colorful supporting cast deserve better.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From AudioFile

BLOW FLY unveils Dr. Kay Scarpetta's new life after leaving her post as the State of Virginia's chief medical examiner. Carolyn McCormick's Scarpetta is believably cool and controlled; she sounds detached even though she's grieving the loss of her former life and her lover, Benton. McCormick does a good job differentiating the other characters, such as the fiery Lucy and the brusque Marino, though her Southern accents occasionally sound a bit thick. This story jumps around in location, which, especially with the abridgment, makes for a choppiness more noticeable at the end. The sound effects of spooky music and swamp noises that appear at chapter openings to provide switches in setting are useful; random helicopter sounds and gunshots that appear out of nowhere are less so. Overall, a decent production that will appeal to Cornwell's many fans. J.C.G. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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DR. KAY SCARPETTA moves the tiny glass vial close to candlelight, illuminating a maggot drifting in a poisonous bath of ethanol. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

534 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
2.0 out of 5 stars (534 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of paper, Oct 19 2004
By Lewis Grenier (Vancouver BC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Ce commentaire est de: Blow Fly (Paperback)
The early Scarpetta novels were ground breaking. Since the appaearance of the WolfMan and his jolly family, this series has gone down hill and beyond. It is doubtful that had this been an unknown author's work, any publisher would have picked it up.

The plot, such as it is, is nonsensical. We are supposed to believe that Benton Wesley's death was faked, for the benefit of Scarpetta, with the long term aim of using Kay to bring about the demise of the Chardonneau family by means of convoluted false messages, red herrings etc. At the end of the day, Welsey simpy goes to their home in Baton Rouge and kills some of them - why did he need to forge various pretexts to get Kay there etc, when all he had to do was burst in a la Rambo and shoot 'em up?

Underneath this slapdash writing lurks some dodgy political views, namely that good people are justified in doing bad things to bad people if it removes the bad guys (the references to Iraq and 9/11 telegraph this unsavoury viewpoint several times).

Clearly Cornwall has nothing more to say about Scarpetta, Marino, Lucy et al and should stop this series now. Sadly, the ludicrously unlikely escape of the Wolf Man means that more yawn inducing antics involving Wolfie going after Kay will ensue..

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth reading, July 18 2004
By K L Wilson (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews
Ce commentaire est de: Blow Fly (Hardcover)
SPOILERS AHEAD

I normally enjoy Cornwell's novels as light relief on a plane, but this one was seriously disappointing. There's only one crime scene investigation, towards the end, of a largely irrelevant murder, and the rest of the book seems to be made up of the guilt and neuroses of the central characters as they all move away from the professional orbits that (once) made them so interesting. The Wolfman (yawn!) and his twin brother Jay are trotted out YET AGAIN as the bad boys of the piece, only to be despatched 'offscreen' at the end. I agree with other readers that the ending was sudden and flat - I convinced myself that I had missed a chapter and resorted to shaking the novel to see if the extra pages would suddenly materialise, explaining what went down at the shack and how Benton killed Jay and what happened to the Wolfman. No such luck. This didn't seem like a cliffhanger, more like a "I can't be bothered" from the author. I shall seriously debate buying any future Cornwell books - "Jack The Ripper" was a shoddy piece of scholarship, and this was lazily written throughout, lacking the taut plot and original characterisation that made the others in the series so enjoyable. A real shame.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT!!!!, July 10 2004
By Rhonda Stanley (Deer Park, TX) - See all my reviews
Ce commentaire est de: Blow Fly (Hardcover)
I purposely did not read the reviews on this one before I gave it a read. Patricia Cornwell has certainly disappointed her fans. The characterization was flat throughout. I kept thinking this has to get better. The ending came abruptly, and afterwards I felt cheated! I have read all of Cornwell's novels and this by far ranks as the worst ever. I think a lot popular authors become more concerned with pumping books out for the (...) than anything else. I mean when you are already rich and famous...why bother entertaining others? I will read reviews on the next Cornwell novel before I plop down my good money.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Great for first timers.....like me
Ok, apparently this book isn't as good as her others. I've heard, mostly, positive things about the Scarpetta series and hadn't read anything by her before. Lisez davantage
Published on Jun 9 2006 by April

1.0 out of 5 stars The title says it all...
This book truly does blow.
I have been a pretty loyal fan, although I was getting really tired of Scarpetta letting every psychopath & his dog into her impregnable fortress... Lisez davantage
Published on Jun 3 2005

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, Scarpetta's back
I have read this series from the beginning and have been disappointed the past several years. But this book redeems those bad ones. Lisez davantage
Published on Jan 24 2005 by Jackie Mattox

5.0 out of 5 stars Part of the missing link
I disagree with most of the other reviewers here! I enjoyed this book thoroughly. If you follow Kay Scarpetta then this book serves not only to answer some questions but to set... Lisez davantage
Published on Aug 10 2004 by Debbie

1.0 out of 5 stars Ugh!
Early Scarpetta novels were gruesome yet literary. Kay was likeable, human. In this latest novel, Cornwell seems absolutely obsessed with torture and sex, preferably together... Lisez davantage
Published on July 15 2004

3.0 out of 5 stars Not half bad
I had a difficult time figuring out if I liked this novel or not. On one hand, I felt that many events were just excuses for not having enough to write about (like Benton being... Lisez davantage
Published on July 12 2004 by dfredreg

1.0 out of 5 stars Ending is HORRIBLE
This book completely drags through the chapters. The characters are maudlin and fail to even encourage involvement with their varying emotional traumas. Lisez davantage
Published on July 12 2004 by Tracie J. Trent

2.0 out of 5 stars Not quite the worst book I've ever read
I feel the Scarpetta series has slipped a couple notches with the last 2 or 3 books. Before starting this book, I read all the bad reviews so I tried to keep an open mind and low... Lisez davantage
Published on July 7 2004 by delaware_girl

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
Any reader of Patricia Cornwell should buy this book. It is thrilling and one of her well written pieces. I love Patricia Cornwell! Lisez davantage
Published on July 1 2004

2.0 out of 5 stars That's it?
After reading the last chapter, I wondered if I missed a few pages. I thought it had a very abrupt ending and that this could have been so much more! Lisez davantage
Published on Jun 29 2004

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