devil bones

While working in Charlotte, North Carolina, Temperance Brennan is called to a scene where a plumber has stumbled upon a closed up cellar containing cauldrons, animal remains and possibly human remains.  As Tempe begins to investigate the case spirals out of control and everything is on the line.

Book 11 in the Temperance Brennan series brings us back to North Carolina where Tempe teaches at UNCC and works for the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s office.  The last we heard from Tempe, she had lost both Pete and Detective Ryan and was struggling to decide what that meant to her.  Now she’s just trying to make it through a case that seems at first, clear cut, but as evidence and bodies start piling up nothing makes sense.

Always a good read, Reichs brings us into the world of forensic anthropology without boring the hell out of us.  Definitely more scientific than your average suspense thriller it’s still easy to follow.  Like Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series I have a hard time understanding why a medical examiner ends up in danger and solving crimes all the time, but unlike Kay Scarpetta, Tempe makes less idiotic choices involving her own safety.

I tend to like the Charlotte books better, only because there’s less French to know.  One thing that does bug me about all of her books is Reich’s need to describe the scenery to the point where if I ever found myself in North Carolina or Montreal I could pretty much find my way around these crime scenes and then back to the ME office, no problem.

But all in all, the stories are always interesting and now, I’m 11 down, 3 to go!