Bones to Ashes - Hardcover

Reichs, Kathy

3.95

30,639 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0434014621 ISBN 13: 9780434014620

Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd, 2007

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Under the microscope, the outer bone surface is a moonscape of craters...'Preliminary diagnosis?' 'Deformity of the bone. Maybe. Cortical destruction on a metacarpal. Maybe. Localised infection? Systemic disease process? Postmortem destruction, either purposeful or natural? A combination of the above? I don't have a diagnosis...' The skeleton is that of a young girl, no more than fourteen years old - and forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan is struggling to keep her emotions in check. Coroner Yves Bradette is being evasive, insisting the bones are ancient and of no interest. But it doesn't quite add up, and a frustrated Tempe is convinced that Bradette is hiding something...It's not Tempe's case; she's overwhelmed with more urgent work in the lab...But the nagging in her subconscious won't let up. A memory triggered, deep in her hindbrain - the disappearance of a childhood friend; no warning, no explanation...Working on instinct, Tempe takes matters into her own hands. But she couldn't have predicted where this case would lead, or the horrors it would eventually uncover...Can Tempe maintain a professional distance as the past catches up with her in this, her most deeply personal case yet?

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

Kathy Reichs is something special. Since achieving a secure position in the upper echelons of crime writers, she has refused to rest on her laurels and (with only the occasional misstep) has consolidated her success with a series of novels that subtly finesse the formula that has gleaned her so many readers.

Bones to Ashes is the latest title to add lustre to her reputation. Dr Temperance Brennan is examining the skeleton of a young girl, and finds herself losing the necessary distance she tries to maintain from all the cases she works on. Are the bones deformed or diseased? Or has some post-mortem damage been wrought upon them? Coroner Yves Bradette seems prepared file this information in the Dead Letters Department -- an ancient case, with no current relevance. But (as so often before) Tempe has other ideas, and something is stirring in her synapses -- a mystery involving the disappearance of a childhood friend. Matters are complicated when Detective Andrew Ryan (assigned to an allied case) asks Tempe to help with three missing persons – a trio of unidentified female corpses. Is there a serial killer at work?

There is often a defining moment when the work of a much-loved author imperceptibly becomes over-familiar, and readers have less enthusiasm for their work. Thankfully, on the evidence of Bones to Ashes, that day is quite some time in the future for Kathy Reichs, as all the elements that have made her books so involving are still being polished and refined here. Followers of Temperance Brennan need not hesitate to add this to their collection. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

"Dr. Brennan is rock solid and this book is easily one of the series' best." -- "The Globe and Mail"

"Tempe is both deeper and funnier than she's ever been, making this her best outing to date." -- "Kirkus Reviews"

"Gripping, full of twists and turns." -- "Ottawa Citizen"

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.