The Body Farm

In much of her early work Patricia Cornwell assembles a perfect formula--overweight cop Pete Marino; bright forensic pathologist Kay Scareptta; brilliant, slightly elusive F.B.I. Special Agent Wesley Benton--with just the right amount of sexual tension among the three of them. There's also super computer nerd Lucy, Scarpetta's niece; high-tech crime scene analysis; and plenty of sawing and boiling of bones and bodies in the morgue, including those of an 11-year old girl. Serial killer Temple Gault hovers on the edges of this plot, and bubonic plague has been thrown into the mix. C.J. Critt's performance is a delightful knife-edged treat; each character is shaped with distinction, vitality, and clarity. M.D.H. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine