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Blow Fly (Scarpetta) Paperback – September 7, 2004

by Patricia Cornwell (Author)

4.3 5,920 ratings

Book 12 of 28: Kay Scarpetta

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[A] grisly fast-paced thriller...utterly chilling."—Entertainment Weekly

"A story so compelling that even long-time readers will be stunned by its twists and turns."—Chicago Tribune

"Gruesome and suspenseful."—New York Daily News

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley; Reissue edition (September 7, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 576 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0425198731
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0425198735
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.25 x 1.18 x 7.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,532,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,115 in Medical Fiction (Books)
- #36,993 in Women Sleuths (Books)
- #57,835 in Suspense Thrillers

Customer Reviews:
4.3 5,920 ratings

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Patricia Cornwell

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In 1990, Patricia Cornwell sold her first novel, Postmortem, while working at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. An auspicious debut, it went on to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity Awards as well as the French Prix du Roman d’Aventure prize—the first book ever to claim all these distinctions in a single year. Growing into an international phenomenon, the Scarpetta series won Cornwell the Sherlock Award for best detective created by an American author, the Gold Dagger Award, the RBA Thriller Award, and the Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters for her contributions to literary and artistic development.

Today, Cornwell’s novels and iconic characters are known around the world. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Cornwell has written the definitive nonfiction account of Jack the Ripper’s identity, cookbooks, a children’s book, a biography of Ruth Graham, and two other fictional series based on the characters Win Garano and Andy Brazil. While writing Quantum, Cornwell spent two years researching space, technology, and robotics at Captain Calli Chase’s home base, NASA’s Langley Research Center, and studied cutting-edge law enforcement and security techniques with the Secret Service, the US Air Force, NASA Protective Services, Scotland Yard, and Interpol.

Cornwell was born in Miami. She grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston and Los Angeles.

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Viola M

Good read

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2024

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I love the Scarlett series and this book was great but confusing and hard to follow but I made it through and on to the next can't wait to read what's going on next

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john c

captivating till the end

Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2023

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The entire book had this reader entranced. Unfortunately the ending falls short and this reader feels gypped! Following the story with great detail and then not being able to follow Benton in the wine cellar or Lucy and the group in the bayou was anticlimactic, like a hurry up and finish. So as much as I liked the book, the ending let me down.

3 people found this helpful

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mel

Read Black Notice then The Last Precinct before this one

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2024

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I think the series is best read in order to understand the plot and enjoy it most. I really liked this one. As usual, things gradually build up until things move quickly with an abrupt ending. I feel like I handle the sudden endings better because I just start the next book in the series. That helps. This book and the two previous must be read together and in order before you can really appreciate them. Enjoy!

One person found this helpful

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D. Rizzo

Unusual and Disconcerting

Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2003

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First, let me say that I consider Kay Scarpetta practically a three dimensional person. I am a Cornwell advocate! However, in the interests of honesty, I must confess that I have found this book both challenging and inconsistent. For the die-hard Cornwell fan, back up and prepare yourself!
For the Unitiated Cornwell, PLEASE don't read this book first.
In this book, Scarpetta relinquishes the first-person voice, so we see her traipse through baggage relating to the serial killer Jean-Baptiste Chandonne (I couldn't resist spelling that name out) and his evil brother Jay Talley (aka Jean-Paul). The third-person omnisicient shifts without warning among a variety of characters, including the bad guys and some not-wholly-unanticipated surprise characters. While necessary for plot development, this strategy might render some die-hard Scarpetta allies confused and uncomfortable. We are used to Kay, her ruminations and rationalizations... without them, this book doesn't seem quite a companion of the series.
Giving Cornwell the benefit of the doubt, how else can we the reader know what Jay Talley is up to? Where he is? How else can we understand the twisted motivations that fuel his freakish brother, imprisoned on death row? There are numerous and incredibly complicated forces at work in this novel... so change is required... but the changes, somehow, fail to connect Scarpetta to her reader. In a way, it's not a book about Scarpetta so much as the circumstances at which she finds her personal and professional life at this point.
Essentially, I find this book fuzzy in its logic and somewhat confusing. I don't understand how some parts of the plot fit together, and I HAVE read all of the other books -- I cannot imagine the confusion of a newcomer to this series! It's like Cornwell has fallen into the trap of melodrama... the engaging clarity and focus of Postmortem (the series springboard) has become mired in innumerable complexities, and the essential simplicity of storytelling is lost... though I dare not fear it's lost forever.
I can't give away the novel's Big Surprise (although I see that many other reviewers have), but once you read the book for yourself, consider that this Big Surprise is a huge letdown. I cannot imagine that Cornwell planned ahead to blindside her audience as she did with this Big Surprise. How incredibly unfair is that, when a running theme throught the series is accepting inevitability? Dealing with loss? Anyone who read the prequel The Last Precinct will remember with poignant clarity Kay's confidences with her trusted friend and colleague Anna, confidences which did more to paint Scarpetta in human form than any of the predessor stories alone or combined... and it was all for naught?
Somehow, I find this novel less believable or engaging than other Cornwell books. This admission pains me; I am one of the few fans of Scarpetta's series with Jim Brazil and Judy Hammer. In those books, at least I thought I understood her purpose and goals for writing. Alas, in this one, I felt no such comfort.
With all of this being said, for the true Cornwell fan, Blow Fly is a must read.

8 people found this helpful

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Leyla

Surprise!

Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2023

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Patricia Cornwell, always so good! I loved the elements of surprise. I love the twists and the turns. I love howsheeplains the gems, we commoners, can not comprehend.

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fverter

Book 12 has non-stop action that culminates the arc which began in book 9

Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2016

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This book was so riveting, I had a hard time putting it down. However, readers will not really appreciate the culmination of events in this 12th book about medical examiner Kay Scarpetta and her usual companions unless they have read at least the previous three books. Author Patricia Cornwell first started the Scarpetta series in 1990. I started reading them in order in 2016. The books are still timely, they do not feel dated at all, not even the technology. In the 9th book Scarpetta's lover is supposedly killed (but she did not do the autopsy herself, so can we be sure?), then books 10 and 11 follow an arc involving a villain known as the "loup garrou" (French for werewolf). I agree with other reviewers that book 11 had too much psychoanalysis and not enough action. But the reward is that book 12 is non-stop action. Book 12 is also where Cornwall changes her writing style from first person to third person, something which many reviewers dislike. It was disconcerting initially - but I feel the new style helps the author to keep jumping between different people's perspectives, which is why this book is so riveting. Finally, I agree with all the other reviewers who complained that the finale of this book happens way too fast, leaving many loose ends and unanswered questions. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to the ongoing adventures of Kay Scarpetta in book 13!

3 people found this helpful

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Carissa Pavlica

A Bridge

Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2003

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I love the character of Kay Scarpetta. I have missed her, and I am very happy to have her back. Unlike others, I am not upset by the turning event of this book, but very excited. I see it as a bridge. Black Notice and The Last Precinct were, to me, very unfeeling. The loss of Benton to readers was traumatic enough, but the books portrayed no life left in Kay. She seemed as though she was abandoned and couldn't find her way home. It almost makes sense that it is in the third person; as if Patricia Cornwell has had difficulty locating the voice of her character. Even she has been on the outside looking in, and this is her attempt to rescue Kay and bring her back to life. I am hoping future Scarpetta books will be true to the character that I considered a friend, and above all else, I am hoping Cornwell already has that book in process. If you're a true Scarpetta fan, you will enjoy the book in spite of it's flaws; and most certainly look forward to the next.

4 people found this helpful

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JOHN ROSS POPE

just what the fans know to expect…

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2023

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just what the fans know to expect…intriguing interwoven plots, surprises at a turn lo the page…until the last page of the last chapter when the reader knows the next book has to be read

3 people found this helpful

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Rock&Ecc

Definitely does not disappoint …

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 13, 2023

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That said I am a little disappointed at the re-entry of a character however it was done gracefully and with purpose… the story as always is fast moving and attention keeping! Hard to put down and as always the characters are real and relatable :)

Darlene Cech

Love it

Reviewed in Canada on July 30, 2018

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Love it

valgo

Un bon "Scarpetta"

Reviewed in France on November 16, 2013

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Dans la série d' enquetes de Scarpetta , dont Blow Fly fait partie, c'est un de plus "scotchant" . Par contre , le final laisse un peu sur sa faim....
Il donne envie de relire ceux qui le précèdent....et mieux vaut l'avoir fait pour s'y retrouver.
C'est sa force et sa faiblesse également de n''être qu'une parcelle d'une histoire à rebondissements

2 people found this helpful

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Alan in Durham

Weird...., Convoluted maybe

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 15, 2024

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The weird bit was that it had very little to do with Scarpetta activity for a long way into the book and was not the more usual first person narrative of Kay involved in every page. It changed with a long chapter towards the end after a series of short scenes.

125 chapters in 479 pages.

And convoluted in a way because so many events were going on in diverse places but Cornwell draws them together at the end although not with all events witnessed, merely reported to Kay in the final scene.

One problem with trying to read a back catalogue, as I am doing, is that I resort to Wikipedia to determine the sequence of publications so I would not make the mistake I have with other authors knowing there is no victim because they are in a subsequent book. Doh! as Mr Simpson would say, although not from reading a book.

And so I have arrived at that book that catches up with my expectation. And how!

So it ends in a grand house in Southern USA on a large planation in some neglect with a slave history. Kay descends a large staircase... Whoa!! Has this been pinched from Margaret Mitchell?

But unlike Scarlett someone does give a damn. At least for the readers because we know who had died and who must be in a later book. Possibly.

Really enjoyed the format with character contributions well spread and the story.