Kathy Reichs

Cross Bones
Publisher: William Heinemann
ISBN: 0-434-01040-5
2005

Kathy Reichs biography by Chris High

The eighth outing for Dr Temperance Brennan and Detective Andrew Ryan, sees an apparent suicide turn into much more, necessitating in a trip to Israel and so delves into the mysteries of a group of bones as old as Christ.

As ever with a Kathy Reichs' novel, you know what you are going to get - a well-researched and brilliantly plausible tale - no matter how implausible the premise - that is exceedingly difficult to put down. Her characters are wonderfully well drawn and their dialogue has a pizzazz that makes the reader believe that they are listening in through an open window, despite their being the usual bucketfuls of Sci-speak. The author, after all, is a forensic anthropologist, but the technicalities of her "trade" rarely slows the pace of the story and, indeed, adds to the aura of its telling in many ways. There are though a lot of "bones" to keep track of and also a huge amount of history that is served up, on occasions, just a little coldly. Kathy Reichs excels in her ability to describe, which is best illustrated with Tempe being inside a laboratory dissecting cadavers and not giving lectures or hypothesising with stunning accuracy. Forensic scientists don't catch killers; they help the police catch killers and Dr Brennan remains faithful to that end in this novel, if only just.

All in all, this is a welcome return of the good Doctor and, with a television series based around her adventures out in America soon, all bodes well for an author who improves with each outing.

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