I read 'Point of Origin', 'Black Notice', and 'The Last Precinct' in quick succession as they are very much interlinked and there is a definite sense of continuity between them. I then picked up 'Blow Fly' a short time later...In all honesty, I haven't finished the book yet. It's possible that I'll begrudgingly finish it and then amend my review; it's unusual for a book to irritate me so quickly that I wanted to post so quickly.When the last book finished, I expected it to go one of three ways: (1) end the series, (2) pick up within a few hours / weeks of the last book and be based in New York, (3) be based a year later in New York.Instead there is a three year publishing gap AND (apparently) a gap of several years within the narrative. Things that have seriously pissed me off:*There is no good explanation / scene setting at the start of the book to explain how much time has passed and what year the book is set in. This is especially jarring given that BN and TLP were set within a few hours of each other.*There is no opening explanation of what Kay Scarpetta has been doing in that time. There are hints later on but it's difficult to reconcile these with the earlier novels.*The book suddenly switches to the third person. It is no longer about Scarpetta, per se, but instead moves around the world following a huge number of characters. Also jarring is that the narrative hops & skips between a dizzying number of p.o.v. shots - often there's only a few pages and the narrator changes again. This also means that the minds of the villains and torture scenes etc. become narrated in the present tense rather than being forensically examined.*There are inconsistencies between recap given in this novel and those given earlier. Some of these are minor (like changing Lucy's money to selling off stocks instead of inventing her own software) and others are more jarring.(view spoiler)[*Why on earth is Benton alive? He was killed off. We dealt with this for TWO books after that. Time to move on!! This also just fails to feel consistent with the earlier books. If Benton's been alive the whole time with Marino & Lucy helping to fake his death then - Why would Marino, in Paris, have pushed the idea that he might still be alive? What was the point of the TLP file if he was still alive and the FBI already knew all of is contents? Why would Washington agree to let both Marino and Lucy know that he was alive (and for Marino to know how to stay in contact); why have them know at all, or why not then let Kay know, or why not put Kay in witness protection as well?*Why is Talley still in the USA years later and living in a swamp? Why would his family not have smuggled him elsewhere? Doesn't he have off-shore accounts and other identities? Why would he tolerate living with the motel woman for all these years?*Why would the Governor go from refusing to accept Kay's resignation and her being considered one of the top in her career in the country to...her being completely discredited and spending several years largely living off savings and doing pro-bono work / lecturing?*Why doesn't Kay age? Lucy's gone from a 10 y.o. girl to being 30; Kay should therefore be around 60 and instead seems to be around 46 in this novel!(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
Cornwell makes many changes to the twelfth novel in the Scarpetta series, easily identifiable to series regulars. Scarpetta, now a Florida-based forensic pathology consultant, returns to deal with the endgame presented in the final chapters of The Last Precinct while trying to acclimate to her new life. She investigates a crime down in Louisiana after receiving a call from the local medical examiner, full of questions and no easy answers. Meanwhile, Lucy is forging her own adventure hunting down a scheming lawyer whose identity shocked readers in the previous novel. Marino is also on his own adventure, helping to create more jaw-dropping moments for the reader and liaising with the crazed Wolfman whose capture stunned readers over the past two novels. When Scarpetta heads to Texas to face the Wolfman on death row, everything comes to a head and the eerie sensation Cornwell painted in her past two novels pushes to a higher level. With a powerful ending, Blow Fly keeps readers wondering what else Scarpetta might face in adventures to come.Cornwell’s changes will shock series regulars, but, at least in this novel, proved both useful and effective. Scarpetta’s insights are told from a third person narrative, rather than the usual first person. This shift permits the story to blossom in a way incapable before. As mentioned above, events involving Lucy and Marino than do not occur in Scarpetta’s presence cannot be handled in the first person narrative, leaving Cornwell little choice. I will reserve judgment on the use of the narrative until I see how Cornwell develops in in future novels, or if this was a one-off. The second major change was the use of short, gritty chapters. Three stories blended into one, with cliffhangers at many turns, makes the use of these shorter chapters effective. I remember beginning the series and realising the chapters were gargantuan, which was harder to digest, but the narrative and plot do not suffer with this. Shorter chapters can work (at time a la James Patterson), but can also cause a jilted story (the same Patterson issue). For this novel, highly effective and useful. She also uses her trademark character progression to scatter the main characters around the plotline and to allow for a deeper and more thriller-based narratrive.Kudos Madam Cornwell for a series that gets better with each novel. I cannot wait to see what else you, and Kay Scarpetta have in store.
What do You think about Blow Fly (2004)?
It is hard getting used to the third person recitations of these later Kay Scarpetta novels, but they do have one positive aspect, you really are getting to know the mindsets of Lucy, Marino and Benton. Yes, Benton, and I don't think I'm revealing anything by saying his name. The book also introduces at least one new character who will play a part in future novels, and his backstory explains why Lucy really left the FBI. It also brings to a closure many of the previous novels threads, but not everything. Although it seems a bit scattered at first the book builds with a lot of suspense and really comes together at the end. I do miss the first person narration of Kay but I can't say this was a bad entry into the series.
—Hali Sowle
I didn't recognise that I'd already read this when I found it in a charity shop. This is one of the ones where Cornwell's lost the plot completely as far as I am concerned. At the start of the series I liked the books, despite Super Scarpetta's habit of coming home from an exhausting 27-hour day as the world's best forensic pathologist and pulling together a gourmet multi-course meal beginning with making the pasta from scratch. (Who did the shopping / cleaning in the mega mansion?) But at the end of each book she had to get a huge promotion which meant that very quickly the only possible promotion was divinity so then Cornwell decided to blow Scarpetta's perfect world apart - about as plausibly as the Smersh plots in James Bond. This book also has far too much of Lucy - possibly the least attractive heroine ever created - and Benton Wesley - stupid name (yes I'm *that* childish but some names simply preclude your ever finding a person sexually attractive - they should point this out in obs/gyne clinics) and possibly even more unlikeable than Lucy. Read Kathy Reichs instead is my advice.
—Margaret
Meh! I didn't really like this book. I certainly didn't read it eagerly like I did with her previous books. This one was definitely worse than Black Notice. First of all, after writing the entire Kay Scarpetta series in first person through the eyes of Kay, she suddenly skipped to third person. Not only that but she started telling the story through the eyes of everyone involved. It would change from chapter to chapter and made the story feel very... broken. Also there were too many characters in the book that you didn't really get to know. People who played big parts in the story yet you learn almost nothing about them. I think Cornwell will have her work cut out for her in the next book in the series if she plans to win a lot of her readers back.
—Tammy
