About the author:
Born: Chicago, Illinois 1950
Education: B.A. Anthropology-American University, Washington, D.C.
M.A. & Ph.D. Physical Anthropology-Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
Website: http://kathyreichs.com/
Thriller Sub-genre: Forensic Thriller
Publishers: Scribner and Bantam Books
Future of the series: The Bone Collection, a collection of four novellas, was recently released on 11/1/16.
Review of the latest in the series- Speaking in Bones
The Simon Review
I often see reviews comparing Kathy Reichs’ books with Patricia Cornwell’s books, but with the exception of both being forensic thrillers, the two series are very different. One major difference is that Reichs creates her stories often based on her real life as a forensic anthropologist, whereas Cornwell’s stories are purely fictional. Additionally, the main heroines, Reichs’ Temperance Brennan versus Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta, have very different personalities. One major difference is that Scarpetta has a larger than life character; degrees in law and medicine, the best medical examiner in the country, and celebrity status as a CNN commentator. On the other hand, Brennan is more ‘human’ with many of the problems that many of us deal with such as; finding someone to take care of the pets when were away, having a boss that wants you to do those tedious task, and dealing with everyday family matters such as getting a hold of your daughter when she is away at college or dealing with your ex-husband’s girlfriend. Additionally, Brannon is more ‘flawed’, being a recovering alcoholic and even relapsing during one of the novels.
Also adding to Tempe Brennan’s humanistic persona, her love life is chaotic with an ex-husband that she remains cordial with, to an on and off relationship with Detective Andrew Ryan. Brennan’s relationship with Ryan has been frustrating throughout the series and in the latest novels his brief appearances only acts as a teaser. Reichs’ needs to either completely end the relationship between Ryan and Brennan or get them together. A relationship for Brennan would add a new dimension to the character which is sorely needed as the Tempe Brennan in book one of the series is not much different than the Tempe Brennan in the sixteenth book of the series.
Reichs’ follows a hardboiled noir style which may not be for everyone. Brennan’s character often becomes the victim as a result of emotional weaknesses or impulsive acts of heroism, such as entering a biker bar unattended over concerns of her nephew’s disappearance. This is counterintuitive considering her character is a highly trained forensic anthropologist. Some readers also have a problem with the more technical terminology that goes along Reich’s being a forensic anthropologist. Personally I like seeing the terminology but that is the scientist in me.
Since the series goes back and forth between North Carolina and Montreal, Canada, there are few secondary characters that stay consistent with the series. Besides Andrew Ryan and Brennan’s ex-husband, Pete Petersen, other characters that make occasional appearances are her daughter, Katy; her sister Harriet more affectionately known as Harry; Detective Erskine “Skinny” Slidell; Detective Luc Claudel and of course, her beloved cat, Birdie. I thought that Luc Claudel was a great character as he was antagonistic to Brennan’s character but he faded out after the first few novels. Fortunately, however, is the addition of Skinny Slidell, whose opposing personality to Brennan’s character creates a seemingly mismatched but enjoyable duo.
Kathy Reichs’ Temperance Brennan series is devoutly followed by her readers and if you are really into forensics and enjoy learning about skeletal anatomy then this is a must read series. Since the character development of Tempe Brennan is relatively nonexistent, reading books separately from the series is considerably more doable than other series.
Simon’s pick:
Most Favorite Novel in the Series- Fatal Voyage, because I enjoyed the transitional story of investigating a tragic airplane crash to inadvertently coming across a disturbing murder scene.
Least Favorite Novel in the Series-Cross Bones, because this is too much like a Da Vinci code wannabe.
What about the science?
Kathy Reichs is a skilled physical anthropologist, so you can be sure that the science is accurate. Most of the forensics is in the area of human skeletal anatomy.
The Temp Brennan Technical Word in Review: Osteon– Are cylindrical structures that make up the hard outer layer of compact bone. Each osteon contains a canal, also known as the Haversian Canal where blood vessels reside. In forensics, the osteons can help to determine sex, age, diet, and even health of a victim.
When magnified and viewed under polarized light, osteons resemble tiny volcanoes, ovoid cones with central craters and flanks that spread out to flat lands of primary bone. The number of volcanoes increase with age, as does the count of abandoned calderas . By determining the density of these features one arrives at an age estimate.– Fatal Voyage
Books in the Series by Order:
Vote for your favorite Forensic Thriller on the Forensic Fiction List on Goodreads Listopia.
Goodreads Forensic Fiction Best List
Most Favorite in the series: Fatal Voyage and Bones Never Lie (tie) with a score of 4.04
Least Favorite in the series: Cross Bones with a score of 3.83
Based on overall ratings from Goodreads, Barnes and Nobles, Library Thing, and Amazon (US & UK)
#1-Déjá Dead – 1997
Winner of the 1997 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel
Nominated for the 1998 Dilys Award
Listed #1 out of 120 on Goodreads Forensic Fiction Book List
Listed #30 out of 168 on Goodreads Science Thrillers Book List
A sample audio clip
First Line:
I wasn’t thinking about the man who’d blown himself up.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan: Is a physical anthropologist that specializes in forensics and splits her time between Montreal, Canada and Charlotte, North Carolina. She is divorced and has one young adult daughter. She is a recovering alcoholic.
Det. Andrew Ryan: He is a homicide detective for the Montreal police. Has an off and on relationship with Tempe Brennan. He has a daughter from a previous relationship which he did not know about until she reached her teen years. The daughter has a drug problem which creates considerable problems for Det. Ryan.
Pierre LaManche: Director of the Laboratoire de Médecine Légale in Montreal, Canada.
Luc Claudel: Detective assigned the recent murder case.
Gabrielle “Gabby” Macaulay: Old classmate and friend of Brennan
The Setting
Montreal, Canada
In the year since Temperance Brennan left behind a shaky marriage in North Carolina, work has often preempted her weekend plans to explore Quebec. When a female corpse is discovered meticulously dismembered and stashed in trash bags, Tempe detects an alarming pattern — and she plunges into a harrowing search for a killer. But her investigation is about to place those closest to her — her best friend and her own daughter — in mortal danger…
“I got into bed and tried to read, but Geneviéve Trottier’s words kept jamming my mind. Déjá mort. Already dead. Champoux had used the same phrase. Yes. Déjà dead. Five. That was the chilling truth. Like Champoux and Trottier, I too had thoughts that would not lie quiet in my mind.”
Looking for a review of Deja Dead? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 3.93 out of 5 stars based on 779 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.03 out of 5 stars based on 240 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.85 out of 5 stars based on 97,477 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 3.90 out of 5 stars based on 684 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.58 out of 5 stars based on 1,056 ratings
Total Score 3.85 (updated 7/19/16)
#2-Death du Jour – 1999
Listed #5 out of 120 on Goodreads Forensic Fiction Book List
A sample audio clip
First Line:
If the bodies were there, I couldn’t find them.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan, Det. Andrew Ryan, and Pierre LaManche
Jean Bertrand: Andrew Ryan’s partner
The Setting
Montreal, Canada and North Carolina
Assaulted by the bitter cold of a Montreal winter, the American-born Dr. Temperance Breman, Forensic Anthropologist for the Province of Quebec, digs for a corpse where Sister Elisabeth Nicolet, dead over a century and now a candidate for sainthood, should lie in her grave. A strange, small coffin, buried in the recesses of a decaying church, holds the first clue to the cloistered nun’s fate. The puzzle surrounding Sister Elisabeth’s life and death provides a welcome contrast to discoveries at a burning chalet, where scorched and twisted bodies await Tempe’s professional expertise. Who were these people? What brought them to this gruesome fate? Homicide Detective Andrew Ryan, with whom Tempe has a combustive history, joins her in the arson investigation. From the fire scene they are drawn into the worlds of an enigmatic and controversial professor, a mysterious commune, and a primate colony on a Carolina island.
“Carole Camptois died a little less than three weeks ago. I stared at the page. Ten. Ten people dead. Again the odd phrase ricocheted through my brain. Death du jour….
Looking for a review of Death du Jour? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.06 out of 5 stars based on 384 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.20 out of 5 stars based on 179 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.95 out of 5 stars based on 28,699 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 4.10 out of 5 stars based on 302 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.71 out of 5 stars based on 718 ratings
Total Score 3.95 (updated 7/19/16)
#3-Deadly Décisions – 2000
Listed #26 out of 120 on Goodreads Forensic Fiction Book List
First Line:
Her name was Emily Anne.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan, Det. Andrew Ryan, Jean Bertrand and Pierre LaManche
Kit: Tempe’s nephew
The Setting
Montreal, Canada and North Carolina
Nine-year-old Emily Anne Toussaint is fatally shot on a Montreal street. A North Carolina teenager disappears from her home, and parts of her skeleton are found hundreds of miles away. The shocking deaths propel Tempe Brennan from north to south, and deep into a shattering investigation inside the bizarre culture of outlaw motorcycle gangs — where one misstep could bring disaster for herself or someone she loves.
“I flashed on Frog Rinaldi, his shadow rippling across a grave. Gately and Martineau had made a decision. A deadly decision. So had Savannah Osprey. And George Dorsey. I would not permit Kit to do the same. ”
Looking for a review of Deadly Decisions? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 3.89 out of 5 stars based on 298 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.01 out of 5 stars based on 110 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.92 out of 5 stars based on 22,297 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 4.10 out of 5 stars based on 240 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.70 out of 5 stars based on 560 ratings
Total Score 3.92 (updated 7/19/16)
#4-Fatal Voyage – 2001
Listed #7 out of 120 on Goodreads Forensic Fiction Book List
Listed #131 out of 168 on Goodreads Science Thrillers Book List
First Line:
I stared at the woman flying through the trees.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan and Det. Andrew Ryan
Sheriff Lucy Crowe: Local sheriff assigned to the crash site
Larke Tyrell: A professional collegue of Temp Brennan and chief medical examiner for the state of North Carolina
Parker Davenport: Lt. Governor of North Carolina
The Setting
North Carolina
Investigating a plane crash in the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan discovers in a most disturbing way that the evidence doesn’t add up. Tripping over a coyote-chewed leg at the crash scene, she performs a little mental arithmetic and realizes that this victim wasn’t on the plane. Once again, Brennan’s high-tech DMORT snaps into action faster than you can say “Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team.
“Voyages not taken. Lives obliterated because of one fatal voyage. I took my time walking to the station.”
Looking for a review of Fatal Voyage? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.27 out of 5 stars based on 311 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.41 out of 5 stars based on 136 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.04 out of 5 stars based on 37,579 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 4.20 out of 5 stars based on 197 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.74 out of 5 stars based on 595 ratings
Total Score 4.04 (updated 1/25/17)
#5-Grave Secrets – 2002
Listed #9 out of 120 on Goodreads Forensic Fiction Book List
A sample audio clip
First Line:
I am dead.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan and Det. Andrew Ryan
Sgt. Det. Bartolome Galiano: Homocide detective with the Guatemala National Civil Police and potential love interest for Tempe Brannon
The Setting
Guatemala
They are “the disappeared,” twenty-three massacre victims buried in a well in the Guatemalan village of Chupan Ya two decades ago. Leading a team of experts on a meticulous, heartbreaking dig, Tempe Brennan pieces together the violence of the past. But a fresh wave of terror begins when the horrific sounds of a fatal attack on two colleagues come in on a blood-chilling satellite call. Teaming up with Special Crimes Investigator Bartolomé Galiano and Montreal detective Andrew Ryan, Tempe quickly becomes enmeshed in the cases of four privileged young women who have vanished from Guatemala City — and finds herself caught in deadly territory where power, money, greed, and science converge.
“Grave secret.” I realized that Nordstern was slightly drunk. “Secrets of the grave.” He tried to hold his grin but it faded, as if by its own will. “I’m at the St. Malo,” Nordstern said to Ryan. To me, “Call when you want the answers to some very grave secrets.”
Looking for a review of Grave Secrets? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.13 out of 5 stars based on 240 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.25 out of 5 stars based on 102 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.97 out of 5 stars based on 21,934 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 4.00 out of 5 stars based on 155 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.69 out of 5 stars based on 513 ratings
Total Score 3.97 (updated 7/19/16)
#6-Bare Bones- 2003
Listed #4 out of 120 on Goodreads Forensic Fiction Book List
A sample audio clip
First Line:
As I was packaging what remained of the dead baby, the man I would kill was burning pavement north toward Charlotte.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan and Det. Andrew Ryan
Tim Larabee: Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner
Erskine “Skinny” Slidell: Homicide detective with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police
The Setting
North Carolina
“Down time” is not a phrase in Tempe Brennan’s vocabulary. A string of disturbing cases has put her vacation plans on hold; instead, she heads to the lab to analyze charred remains from a suspicious fire, and a mysterious black residue from a small plane crash. But most troubling of all are the bones. . . . Tempe’s daughter’s new boyfriend invites them to a picnic — a pig pickin’ — in the North Carolina countryside, where a cache of bones turns up. But are they animal or human? X-rays and DNA may link the crimes, but they can’t reveal who is closing in on Tempe and her daughter — and how far they will go to keep her from uncovering the truth.
“He may be putting flesh on those bare bones of yours. Get it. Bare bones? Bear bones?”
Looking for a review of Bare Bones? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 3.96 out of 5 stars based on 223 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.21 out of 5 stars based on 84 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.95 out of 5 stars based on 25,859 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 4.20 out of 5 stars based on 164 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.65 out of 5 stars based on 493 ratings
Total Score 3.95 (updated 7/19/16)
#7-Monday Mourning – 2004
Listed #14 out of 120 on Goodreads Forensic Fiction Book List
A sample audio clip
First Line:
Monday, Monday…
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan, Det. Andrew Ryan and Luc Claudel
Michel Charbonneau: Murder detective and partner to Luc Claudel
Menard Cyr
Anique Pomerleau
The Setting
Montreal, Canada
The bones of three young women are unearthed in the basement of a Montreal pizza parlor, and forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan has unsolved murder on her mind as she examines the shallowly buried remains. Coming up against a homicide cop who is convinced the dead have been entombed on the site for centuries, Tempe perseveres, even with her own relationship with Detective Andrew Ryan at a delicate turning point. In the lab, the clean, well-preserved bones offer few clues. But when Carbon 14 confirms her hunch that these were recent deaths despite the antique buttons found near the bodies, Tempe’s probing must produce answers quickly to stop a killer whose grisly handiwork has seen the light of day.
Looking for a review of Monday Mourning? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.16 out of 5 stars based on 311 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.50 out of 5 stars based on 146 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.02 out of 5 stars based on 22,979 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 4.10 out of 5 stars based on 148 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.68 out of 5 stars based on 508 ratings
Total Score 4.02 (updated 7/19/16)
#8-Cross Bones – 2005
Listed #23 out of 120 on Goodreads Forensic Fiction Book List
A sample audio clip
First Line:
Following an Easter dinner of ham, peas, and creamed potatoes, Charles “Le Cowboy” Bellemare pinched a twenty from his sister, drove to a crack house in Verdun, and vanished.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan and Det. Andrew Ryan
Jake Drum: Biblical archeaologist
The Setting
Montreal, Canada and Israel
Examining a badly decomposed corpse is de rigueur for forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. But puzzling damage on the body of a shooting victim, an Orthodox Jewish man, suggests this is no ordinary Montreal murder. When a stranger slips Tempe a photograph of a skeleton unearthed at an archaeological site, Tempe uncovers chilling ties between the dead man and secrets long buried in the dust of Israel. Traveling there with Detective Andrew Ryan, Tempe plunges into an international mystery as old as Jesus, and centered on the controversial discovery of Christ’s tomb. Has a mastermind lured her into an elaborate hoax? If not, Tempe may be on the brink of rewriting two thousand years of history — if she can survive the foes dead set on burying her.
Looking for a review of Cross Bones? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 3.51 out of 5 stars based on 274 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 3.17 out of 5 stars based on 119 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.85 out of 5 stars based on 18,149 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 3.90 out of 5 stars based on 136 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.55 out of 5 stars based on 531 ratings
Total Score 3.83 (updated 7/19/16)
#9-Break No Bones – 2006
Listed #25 out of 120 on Goodreads Forensic Fiction Book List
A sample audio clip
First Line:
Never fails.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan and Det. Andrew Ryan
Emma Rousseau: A professional colleague and friend of Brennan
Pete Petersen: Brennan’s ex-husband
The Setting
Dewees Island, South Carolina
It’s the second-to-last day of archaeological field school. Dr. Temperance Brennan’s students are working on a site of prehistoric graves on Dewees, a barrier island north of Charleston, South Carolina, when a decomposing body is uncovered in a shallow grave off a lonely beach…The skeleton is articulated, the bone fresh and the vertebrae still connected by soft-tissue; the remains are encased in rotted fabric and topped by wisps of pale, blond hair – a recent burial, and a case Tempe must take. Dental remains and skeletal gender and race indicators suggest that the deceased is a middle-aged white male – but who was he? Why was he buried in a clandestine grave? And what does the unusual vertical hairline fracture of the sixth cervical vertebrae signify? While Tempe is trying to piece together the evidence, her personal life is thrown into turmoil. When a bullet – intended, perhaps, for her – puts Tempe’s estranged husband Pete in hospital, her unexpectedly emotional response complicates her on-off relationship with Detective Andrew Ryan…But before long, another body is discovered – and Tempe finds herself drawn deeper into a shocking and chilling investigation, set to challenge her entire view of humanity.
“Is that what this is, Doctor? Name calling? Stick and stones? I break no bones, I am a healer. I shook my head, too disgusted to answer.”
Looking for a review of Break No Bones? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.20 out of 5 stars based on 240 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.37 out of 5 stars based on 84 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.94 out of 5 stars based on 19,887 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 4.00 out of 5 stars based on 111 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.64 out of 5 stars based on 550 ratings
Total Score 3.94 (updated 7/20/16)
#10-Bones to Ashes – 2007
Listed #12 out of 120 on Goodreads Forensic Fiction Book List
A sample audio clip
First Line:
Babies die.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan and Det. Andrew Ryan
The Setting
New Brunswirk, Canada
Temperance Brennan, like her creator Kathy Reichs, is a brilliant, sexy forensic anthropologist, called on to solve the toughest cases. But for Tempe, the discovery of a young girl’s skeleton in Acadia, Canada, is more than just another assignment. Evangeline, Tempe’s childhood best friend, was also from Acadia. Named for the character in the Longfellow poem, Evangeline was the most exotic person in Tempe’s eight-year old world. When Evangeline disappeared, Tempe was warned not to search for her, that the girl was “dangerous.”
Thirty years later, flooded with memories, Tempe cannot help wondering if this skeleton could be the friend she lost so many years ago. Meanwhile, Tempe’s beau, Ryan, investigates a series of cold cases. Two girls dead. Three missing. Could the New Brunswick skeleton be part of the pattern? As Tempe draws on the latest advances in forensic anthropology to penetrate the past, Ryan hunts down a serial predator.
“Bones to Ashes: An Exultation of Poems. “Looks like one of the sixties things quoting Moa,” Harry said.”
Looking for a review of Bones to Ashes? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.09 out of 5 stars based on 314 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.24 out of 5 stars based on 91 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.92 out of 5 stars based on 20,800 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 4.20 out of 5 stars based on 118 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.65 out of 5 stars based on 581 ratings
Total Score 3.92 (updated 7/20/16)
#11-Devil Bones – 2008
Listed #1 on New York Times Bestseller List on 9/14/2008 – 1 week on bestseller list
Listed #15 out of 120 on Goodreads Forensic Fiction Book List
A sample audio clip
First Line:
My name is Temperance Deassee Brennan.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan and Det. Andrew Ryan
The Setting
Charlotte, North Carolina
An underground chamber is exposed in a seedy, dilapidated house with sagging trim and peeling paint…In the dark cellar, a ritualistic display is revealed. A human skull rests on a cauldron, surrounded by slain chickens and bizarre figurines. Beads and antlers dangle overhead. Called to the scene is forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan. Bony architecture suggests that the skull is that of a young, black female. But how did she die? And when? Then, just as Tempe is working to determine post-mortem interval, another body is discovered: a headless corpse carved with Satanic symbols. As citizen vigilantes, blaming Devil-worshippers, begin a witch-hunt, intent on revenge, Tempe struggles to keep her emotions in check. But the truth she eventually uncovers proves more shocking than even she could have imagined…
Looking for a review of Devil Bones? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.04 out of 5 stars based on 285 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 3.83 out of 5 stars based on 104 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.87 out of 5 stars based on 18,045 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 3.99 out of 5 stars based on 154 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.57 out of 5 stars based on 455 ratings
Total Score 3.87 (updated 7/20/16)
#12-206 Bones – 2009
Listed #13 out of 120 on Goodreads Forensic Fiction Book List
A sample audio clip
First Line:
Cold.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan and Det. Andrew Ryan
The Setting
Montreal Canada
There are 206 bones in the human body. Forensic anthropologists know them intimately, can use them to reconstruct every kind of violent end. When Tempe finds herself regaining consciousness in some kind of very small, very dark, very cold enclosed space—bound, hands to feet—Tempe begins slowly to reconstruct…
Tempe and Lieutenant Ryan had accompanied the recently discovered remains of a missing heiress from Montreal to the Chicago morgue. Suddenly, Tempe was accused of mishandling the autopsy—and the case. Back in Montreal, the corpse of a second elderly woman was found in the woods, and then a third. Seamlessly weaving between Tempe’s present-tense terror as she’s held captive and her memory of the cases of these murdered women, Reichs reveals the incredible devastation that would occur if a forensic colleague sabotaged work in the lab. The chemistry between Tempe and Ryan intensifies as this complex, riveting tale unfolds, proving once again, that Reichs is the dominant talent in forensic mystery writing.
Looking for a review of 206 Bones? Check out:
Sue’s Family, Flowers, and Fun Stuff
Amazon Rating-US: 4.20 out of 5 stars based on 298 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.16 out of 5 stars based on 122 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.92 out of 5 stars based on 17,884 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 4.00 out of 5 stars based on 275 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.66 out of 5 stars based on 431 ratings
Total Score 3.92 (updated 7/20/16)
#13-Spider Bones – 2010 (UK title Mortal Remains)
Listed #17 out of 120 on Goodreads Forensic Fiction Book List (under Mortal Remains – UK edition)
A sample audio clip
First Line:
The air smelled of sun-warmed bark and apple buds raring to blossom and get on with life.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan and Det. Andrew Ryan
The Setting
Montreal, Canada, North Carolina and Honolulu, Hawaii
John Lowery was declared dead in 1968—the victim of a Huey crash in Vietnam, his body buried long ago in North Carolina. Four decades later, Temperance Brennan is called to the scene of a drowning in Hemmingford, Quebec. The victim appears to have died while in the midst of a bizarre sexual practice. The corpse is later identified as John Lowery. But how could Lowery have died twice, and how did an American soldier end up in Canada?
Tempe sets off for the answer, exhuming Lowery’s grave in North Carolina and taking the remains to Hawaii for reanalysis—to the headquarters of JPAC, the U.S. military’s Joint POW/ MIA Accounting Command, which strives to recover Americans who have died in past conflicts. In Hawaii, Tempe is joined by her colleague and ex-lover Detective Andrew Ryan (how “ex” is he?) and by her daughter, who is recovering from her own tragic loss. Soon another set of remains is located, with Lowery’s dog tags tangled among them. Three bodies—all identified as Lowery.
And then Tempe is contacted by Hadley Perry, Honolulu’s flamboyant medical examiner, who needs help identifying the remains of an adolescent boy found offshore. Was he the victim of a shark attack? Or something much more sinister?
Looking for a review of Spider Bones? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 3.87 out of 5 stars based on 293 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 3.94 out of 5 stars based on 130 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.90 out of 5 stars based on 16,658 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 3.80 out of 5 stars based on 441 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.50 out of 5 stars based on 334 ratings
Total Score 3.89 (updated 7/20/16)
#14-Flash and Bones – 2011
Listed #1 on New York Times Bestseller List on 9/11/2011 – 1 week on bestseller list
Listed #28 out of 120 on Goodreads Forensic Fiction Book List
A sample audio clip
First Line:
Looking back, I think of it as race week in the rain.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan and Erskine “Skinny” Slidell
Wayne Gamble: Member of a NASCAR pit crew whose sister’s disappearance is the center of the investigation
Cindi Gamble: Wayne Gamble sister
Cale Lovette: Cindi Gamble’s boyfriend that also went missing
Craig Bogan: Father of Cale Lovette
The Setting
North Carolina
Just as 200,000 fans are pouring into town for Race Week, a body is found in a barrel of asphalt next to the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The next day, a NASCAR crew member comes to Temperance Brennan’s office at the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner to share a devastating story. Twelve years earlier, Wayne Gamble’s sister, Cindi, then a high school senior and aspiring racer, disappeared along with her boyfriend, Cale Lovette. Lovette kept company with a group of right-wing extremists known as the Patriot Posse. Could the body be Cindi’s? Or Cale’s?
At the time of their disappearance, the FBI joined the investigation, only to terminate it weeks later. Was there a cover-up? As Tempe juggles multiple theories, the discovery of a strange, deadly substance in the barrel alongside the body throws everything into question. Then an employee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention goes missing during Race Week. Tempe can’t overlook the coincidence. Was this man using his lab chemicals for murder? Or is the explanation even more sinister? What other secrets lurk behind the festive veneer of Race Week?
“Craig Bogan was a racist, a sexist. Cindi Gamble had flash. Again the bones. Flash and bones.”
Or how about Noelle’s thoughts from Goodreads on Kathy Reich’s Flash and Bones:
It was 1:50 p.m. My sweat-soaked tee was pasted to my back. My hair was yanked into a ratty knot. Sand lined my scalp and undies. Nevertheless, I was humming. Al Yankovic, “White & Nerdy.” What can I say? I’d watched a YouTube video and the tune lodged in my head.
wow, off to a really terrible start, aren’t we, kathy reichs?
conclusion: why do i keep reading these ridiculous, ultra formulaic books
so boring
so bad
Looking for a review of Flash and Bones? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.16 out of 5 stars based on 349 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.22 out of 5 stars based on 181 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.85 out of 5 stars based on 15,074 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 4.10 out of 5 stars based on 205 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.57 out of 5 stars based on 248 ratings
Total Score 3.86 (updated 7/20/16)
#15-Bones are Forever – 2012
A sample audio clip
First Line:
The baby’s eyes startled me.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan and Det. Andrew Ryan
The Setting
Montreal, Canada
In a run-down Montreal apartment, Tempe finds heartbreaking evidence of three innocent lives ended. The landlord says Alma Rogers lives there— is she the same woman who checked into a city hospital as Amy Roberts, then fled before doctors could treat her uncontrolled bleeding? Is she Alva Rodriguez, sought by a man who appeared at the crime scene? Heading up an investigation crackling with the sexual tension of past intimacies, Tempe leads homicide detective Andrew Ryan and police sergeant Ollie Hasty along the woman’s trail and into the farthest reaches of mining country—where the grim industry of unearthing diamonds exacts a price in blood. And where the truths the unlikely trio uncovers are more sinister than they could have imagined.
Looking for a review of Bones are Forever? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.06 out of 5 stars based on 921 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.38 out of 5 stars based on 269 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.87 out of 5 stars based on 13,399 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 3.80 out of 5 stars based on 113 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.65 out of 5 stars based on 197 ratings
Total Score 3.89 (updated 7/20/16)
#15.5-Bones in Her Pocket (Novella)– 2013
A sample audio clip
First Line:
I clung to an upright as the mule bounced and lurched, engine churning, parts rattling like a junker from the Korean War.
Dr. Tempe Brennan has seen it all. Human bones. Animal bones. Old bones. Young bones. Male bones. Female bones. What she hasn’t seen is all of them mixed together in the same case.
Until now.
The foothills of North Carolina aren’t the only unfamiliar territory Tempe faces as she races to learn the meaning of the Bones in Her Pocket.
Looking for a review of Bones in Her Pocket? Check out:
Reading, Writing, and Riesling
Amazon Rating-US: 4.19 out of 5 stars based on 600 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.38 out of 5 stars based on 290 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.94 out of 5 stars based on 3,305 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 4.50 out of 5 stars based on 2 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.66 out of 5 stars based on 34 ratings
Total Score 4.00 (updated 7/20/16)
#16-Bones of the Lost – 2013
A sample audio clip
First Line:
Heart pounding, I crawled toward the brick angling down to form the edge of the recess.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan and Erskine “Skinny” Slidell
The Setting
North Carolina and Afghanistan
When Charlotte police discover the body of a teenage girl along a desolate stretch of two-lane highway, Temperance Brennan fears the worst. The girl’s body shows signs of foul play. Inside her purse police find the ID card of a prominent local businessman, John-Henry Story, who died in a horrific flea market fire months earlier. Was the girl an illegal immigrant turning tricks? Was she murdered?
The medical examiner has also asked Tempe to examine a bundle of Peruvian dog mummies confiscated by U.S. Customs. A Desert Storm veteran named Dominick Rockett stands accused of smuggling the objects into the country. Could there be some connection between the trafficking of antiquities and the trafficking of humans?
As the case deepens, Tempe must also grapple with personal turmoil. Her daughter Katy, grieving the death of her boyfriend in Afghanistan, impulsively enlists in the Army. Meanwhile, Katy’s father Pete is frustrated by Tempe’s reluctance to finalize their divorce. As pressure mounts from all corners, Tempe soon finds herself at the center of a conspiracy that extends all the way from South America, to Afghanistan, and right to the center of Charlotte.
Looking for a review of Bones of the Lost? Check out:
Reading, Writing, and Riesling
Amazon Rating-US: 4.27 out of 5 stars based on 651 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.41 out of 5 stars based on 407 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.83 out of 5 stars based on 9,685 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 4.10 out of 5 stars based on 74 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.58 out of 5 stars based on 145 ratings
Total Score 3.88 (updated 7/20/16)
#16.5-Swamp Bones (Novella)– 2014
A sample audio clip
First Line:
March.
Although a trip to Florida is supposed to be about rest and relaxation, there’s no such thing as a day off for Dr. Temperance Brennan. She has come to visit her friend, a dedicated ornithologist who’s researching the threat that intrusive Burmese pythons pose to indigenous bird species in the Everglades. While sorting through the stomach of an eighteen-foot specimen, they make a disturbing discovery: bones that are unmistakably human. And when Tempe spots the telltale signs of murder by a very different kind of predator, she’s drawn into a case with its roots in the darkest depths of the swamp.
Looking for a review of Swamp Bones? Check out:
Reading, Writing, and Riesling
Amazon Rating-US: 4.43 out of 5 stars based on 498 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.62 out of 5 stars based on 175 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.92 out of 5 stars based on 2,779 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 4.03 out of 5 stars based on 29 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.74 out of 5 stars based on 23 ratings
Total Score 4.03 (updated 7/20/16)
#17-Bones Never Lie – 2014
Listed #48 out of 120 on Goodreads Forensic Fiction Book List
A sample audio clip
Click here for my review on Bones Never Lie
First Line:
I received the message first thing Monday morning.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan, Det. Andrew Ryan, Pierre LaManche, Tim Larabee, Anique Pomerleau, and Erskine “Skinny” Slidell
Daisy Brennan: Tempe’s mom.
Honor Barrow: Director of the Cold Case Unit
Det. Umparo “Umpie” Rodas: Murder Investigator from Vermont working on a cold case that may have links in North Carolina
The Setting
North Carolina, Vermont, Costa Rica, and Montreal
Unexpectedly called in to the Charlotte PD’s Cold Case Unit, Dr. Temperance Brennan wonders why she’s been asked to meet with a homicide cop who’s a long way from his own jurisdiction. The shocking answer: Two child murders, separated by thousands of miles, have one thing in common—the killer. Years ago, Anique Pomerleau kidnapped and murdered a string of girls in Canada, then narrowly eluded capture. It was a devastating defeat for her pursuers, Brennan and police detective Andrew Ryan. Now, as if summoned from their nightmares, Pomerleau has resurfaced in the United States, linked to victims in Vermont and North Carolina. When another child is snatched, the reign of terror promises to continue—unless Brennan can rise to the challenge and make good on her second chance to stop a psychopath.
But Brennan will have to draw her bitter ex-partner out of exile, keep the local police and feds from one another’s throats, and face more than just her own demons as she stalks the deadliest of predators into the darkest depths of madness.
“Whoa, Doc. You talk bones, what you say always tracks. But this I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?” Had Slidell paid me a compliment?
“Bones never lie. But this. This is fucked up.”
Brenda Mihalik on Amazon gave Kathy Reichs’ novel Bones Never Lie a one star rating even though she never read the book.
Another great book that I won’t be able to read. The price is way past what I can afford on my husband’s retirement. Maybe I’ll see it in a library somewhere.
Elaine Helms on Goodreads gave Kathy Reichs’ Bones Never Lie a three star rating though he would have preferred to give a two star rating and her reasoning is:
I am giving you an extra star, Temperance, because you somehow managed to avoid being knocked unconscious yet again.
Looking for a review of Bones Never Lie? Check out:
Reading, Writing, and Riesling
Amazon Rating-US: 4.44 out of 5 stars based on 837 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.61 out of 5 stars based on 422 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.97 out of 5 stars based on 9,383 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 4.30 out of 5 stars based on 51 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.94 out of 5 stars based on 185 ratings
Total Score 4.03 (updated 7/20/16)
#17.5-Bones on Ice – 2015
First Line:
The transport van backed into the receiving bay, dark and silent.
It is called the “death zone”: the point on Everest, nearly five miles high, above which a climber cannot be rescued. More than 250 souls have lost their lives there. Most of the bodies remain, abandoned, frozen in place. When an earthquake leads to a miraculous recovery, Dr. Temperance Brennan is hired to identify the frozen mummified human corpse. The victim is the daughter of a wealthy Charlotte couple who never got the chance to say goodbye. But far from offering solace and closure, Tempe’s findings only provoke more questions. What happened on Mount Everest? Was the young woman’s death an accident? Why aren’t the other climbers talking? And how far will those hiding the truth go to make sure the past stays buried?
Looking for a review of Bones on Ice? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.56 out of 5 stars based on 324 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.56 out of 5 stars based on 196 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.05 out of 5 stars based on 2,392 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 4.13 out of 5 stars based on 8 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.79 out of 5 stars based on 19 ratings
Total Score 4.14 (updated 7/20/16)
#18-Speaking in Bones – 2015
A sample audio clip
Click here for my review on Speaking in Bones
First Line:
“I’m unbound now.
Characters
Dr. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan, Det. Andrew Ryan, and Erskine “Skinny” Slidell
The Setting
North Carolina
For every case Temperence Brennance has solved, there remain innumerable unidentified bodies in her lab. Information on some of these is available online, where amateur sleuths sometimes take a stab at solving cases. One day, Tempe gets a call from Hazel “Lucky” Strike, a web sleuth who believes she’s successfully connected a body in Tempe’s lab to a missing persons report on an eighteen-year-old named Cora Teague. Since the bones in her lab do seem to match Cora’s medical records, Tempe looks into the case, returning to the spot where the bones were originally found. What seems at first to be an isolated tragedy takes on a more sinister cast as Tempe uncovers two more sets of bones nearby. When she then learns that the area is known as a viewing point for a famous unexplained light phenomenon with significance for a local cult, Tempe’s suspicious turn to murder by ritual sacrifice—a theory thrown into question when Hazel herself turns up dead. Still reeling from her mother’s diagnosis and the shock of Andrew Ryan’s potentially life-change proposal, Tempe races to solve the murders before the body count climbs further.
Then Slidell stunned me. With a compliment.
“You know, Doc, when speaking in bones, you’re pretty good.
Dianne from Amazon on Kathy Reichs’ Speaking in Bones.
Spoiler alert: If the main character gets one more concussion, I’m sure that a traumatic brain injury is in her future.
Looking for a review of Speaking in Bones? Check out:
Reading, Writing, and Riesling
Amazon Rating-US: 4.37 out of 5 stars based on 703 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 4.57 out of 5 stars based on 212 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 3.86 out of 5 stars based on 6,926 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 4.10 out of 5 stars based on 33 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.84 out of 5 stars based on 127 ratings
Total Score 3.92 (updated 7/20/16)
#18.5-The Bone Collection– 2016
First Line to First Bones:
I sat with my chair drawn close to him, an icy heat hovering below my sternum.
In First Bones, a prequel to Reichs’s first novel, Déjà Dead, she at last reveals the tale of how Tempe became a forensic anthropologist. In this never-before-published story, Tempe recalls the case that lured her from a promising career in academia into the grim but addictive world of criminal investigation. (It all began with a visit from a pair of detectives—and a John Doe recovered from an arson scene in a trailer.) The collection is rounded out with three more stories that take Tempe from the low country of the Florida Everglades, where she makes a grisly discovery in the stomach of an eighteen-foot Burmese python, to the heights of Mount Everest, where a frozen corpse is unearthed. No matter where she goes, Tempe’s cases make for the most gripping reading.
Looking for a review of The Bone Collection? Check out:
Amazon Rating-US: 4.02 out of 5 stars based on 61 ratings
Amazon Rating-UK: 3.76 out of 5 stars based on 37 ratings
GoodReads Rating: 4.07 out of 5 stars based on 575 ratings
Barnes & Nobel Rating: 5.00 out of 5 stars based on 1 ratings
Library Thing Rating: 3.13 out of 5 stars based on 4 ratings
Total Score 4.04
