The Body Farm- Death, Warmed Over

The Body Farm
Patricia Cornwell
Berkeley Press $7.99 paperback 351 pages

I’d had my eye on this book for a while, and recently snapped it up at my favorite mystery bookstore. Should have listened to the bookseller’s caution that it wasn’t that great. It wasn’t that great. But I was stubborn. About a year ago, I read a book about the actual Body Farm, a place where forensic scientists study the effects of all kinds of circumstances on body decomposition. That was definitely a good book. Grisly, of course. But- I love forensic science and a good scientific mystery/drama.

This book? Not good. I was already planning not to review it for WVFC, because the main murder mystery is of a young girl, and gets too grisly for the Women’s Voices audience, I think. However, reading on, I’m discovering I don’t like the craft of this novel as a mystery fan. Maybe Patricia Cornwell and her heroine, Kay Scarpetta have the first book blues. Willing to give her that, for wooden dialogue that makes Scarpetta seem fussy and prim, and forced where she tries for humor.
Maybe the love interest element had to be in there to sell the book. I’d need to do research to figure out the time line tracing from Patricia Cornwell to Aaron Elkins to Kathy Reichs, to see how forensic science emerged in mystery novels, and how female characters develop along those lines. Reading this, I miss Bones. That is to say, Kathy Reichs’ character of Tempe Brennan, who I love for her earthiness, honesty, science, and devotion to working alone.
I also don’t like The Body Farm’s supporting characters very much. The love interest? Married and obnoxious. The other investigator? A jerk. Weird subplots? Go nowhere useful. I’m almost done, the murder mystery is circling around, looking for the clues that will lead somewhere, and the characters are nearly as frustrated as I am. Also, I feel cheated. While the one thing I do like is the way Cornwell writes the science, the lab scenes and evidence, the Body Farm itself only got mentioned in passing. You’d think, if it’s the title… it would be more of an event.
Anyway- going to give Cornwell and Scarpetta one more chance, and could use a recommendation of a book later in the series, to see if some of the clunky dialogue and amateurish moments resolve. Any Scarpetta mysteries that compare well to Tempe Brennan?