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Blow Fly

by Patricia Cornwell

Patricia Cornwell is justly famous for her Kay Scarpetta novels, incorporating, as they do, all the very real expertise of scientific forensic knowledge as well as ability to discover a murderer. Blow Fly uses Scarpetta's niece Lucy and her accomplice Rudy to help protect Aunt Kay, as well as once more introducing us to Scarpetta's supposedly dead lover Benton, now in the Witness Protection Program under a new name. All of Patricia Cornwell's abilities are evident in this murder mystery, and will keep you turning pages as fast as the previous ones!

Jean-Baptiste Chardonne, also known as The Wolfman due to the baby-fine hair which grows all over his body, is on Death Row in Texas, thanks to Kay Scarpetta, whom he vigorously pursued along with his twin brother. That brother, now known as Jay Talley, is a fraternal twin, and the very opposite of Jean-Baptiste in that he is handsome in face and body. The one thing the two brothers share is their delight in murdering beautiful women – after prolonged torture with a good deal of bloodletting. Jean-Baptiste calls it 'release.' Now Jean-Baptiste has written to Kay Scarpetta from prison, offering to name names and give all the clues necessary to capturing the main offenders in a global conspiracy of which he was once a minor part – if Scarpetta will visit him in prison, and also agree to be the one to put him to death.

Jay Talley is still at large, hiding out in a rustic cabin only available by boat amid the swamps and bayous of Louisiana, where alligators and cottonmouth snakes abound. He lives there with another vicious female criminal, Bev Kiffin, whom he employs to get both his groceries and quite often his victims. He is suspected of being the serial killer which has long terrorized Louisiana, a state known for its corruption at high levels and the lackadaisical attitude of its police force in Baton Rouge.

Several people get letters signed by Jean-Baptiste at the same time, all intimating that Kay Scarpetta must visit him in order to get the details they desire. Scarpetta is then contacted by a Doctor Sam Lanier, the coroner of East Baton Rouge Parish, concerning the case of one Charlotte Dard – a woman who was found dead eight years ago. Dr. Lanier suspects the death has connections to the prevalent serial killngs in his area. So Scarpetta gets on a plane, first to visit convicted Jean-Baptiste Chardonne, writing down the details he gives her, then telling him she won't be administering the lethal cocktail injection after all. After that, she heads for Baton Rouge.

Flying on her way to Baton Rouge, Scarpetta finds herself between Weldon Winn, the Middle District United States Attorney for Louisiana , and a young boy named Albert. Winn tries unsuccessfully to hit on Kay. In addition to being plain obnoxious, Winn has a reputation for corruption. Then Kay discovers that Albert's last name is Dard. When Albert is left stranded at the Baton Rouge airport, Kay Scarpetta drives him home – to find he lives in a mansion overseen by his aunt, a Mrs. Guidon. The aunt treats Albert with disdain, and after sending him to his room, she offers to show Kay their wine cellar, but is refused.

The reader of Blow Fly is inundated by the various exploits of characters in the book – Jean-Baptiste with his plans, thoughts and prison inmates, Lucy and Rudy attempting to get rid of any danger to Kay Scarpetta, Benton Wesley trying to break out of the Witness Protection Program and get back to Kay, Jay and Bev's tumultuous relationship with continuing murderous abductions, and finally Kay Scarpetta's own attempts to find a new life beyond Richmond, Virginia, in Florida – as well as help get the needed evidence to put Jay Talley behind bars.

All sub-plots converge near the end of the novel. What often seem to be diffuse and unrelated events come together in a clash, and associations are spotlighted. Most of the bad guys
are eliminated – Weldon Winn, Jay Talley and Bev Kiffin. Rocco Caggiano, Jean-Baptiste's lawyer and intimate of those in evil power, is also dead. Benton and Kay are reunited. However, one of the bad guys – and possibly one of the worst – is still alive. Jean Baptiste Chardonne has escaped from prison and Death Row.

The reader is – as usual – left wanting more and impatient for the next Kay Scarpetta episode. Such cliff-hangers, a notorious device in TV soap operas, is seldom used in novels, but remains just as effective. Patricia Cornwell probably stands alone in this respect, adding to her considerable talent with the use of this ploy. Blow Fly may be added to Ms. Cornwell's long list of accomplishments. Applause, please!

Alan Paul Curtis

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