Review: THE BONE CODE by Kathy Reichs

This week marks the release of a new book from Kathy Reichs featuring my favorite forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan Novel. Of course, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to read an ARC of The Bone Code when it became available on Net Galley.

Description*

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with her twentieth gripping novel featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, whose examinations, fifteen years apart, of unidentified bodies ignite a terrifying series of events.

On the way to hurricane-ravaged Isle of Palms, a barrier island off the South Carolina coast, Tempe receives a call from the Charleston coroner. The storm has tossed ashore a medical waste container. Inside are two decomposed bodies wrapped in plastic sheeting and bound with electrical wire. Tempe recognizes many of the details as identical to those of an unsolved case she handled in Quebec years earlier. With a growing sense of foreboding, she travels to Montreal to gather evidence.

Meanwhile, health authorities in South Carolina become increasingly alarmed as a human flesh-eating contagion spreads. So focused is Tempe on identifying the container victims that, initially, she doesn’t register how their murders and the pestilence may be related. But she does recognize one unsettling fact. Someone is protecting a dark secret—and willing to do anything to keep it hidden.

An absorbing look at the sinister uses to which genetics can be put, and featuring a cascade of ever-more-shocking revelations, The Bone Code is Temperance Brennan’s most astonishing case yet—one that gives new meaning to today’s headlines.

* Description as appears on Amazon.

My Review

Unlike the previous book in this series, the focus this time was mostly on the case and less on character development. The original, highly complex plot of this book features events spanning miles and years – and an investigation into what most would seem to be distinct cases, if it weren’t for Tempe’s gut telling her otherwise. True to form, she is like a dog with a bone and insists the two cases must be related. Sub- and side-plots, including a strange request from an elderly twin, add to the intrigue. Although it started out a bit slow, the pace picked up as the story built. Strange coincidences and unpredictable twists made for an interesting and enjoyable read.

FTC disclosure: I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This has not affected the content of this review.

Click here to read my review of A Conspiracy of Bones.