Evil Bones

Kathy Reichs 

WHEN several small animals are found mutilated, decorated and bizarrely displayed at various locations around Charlotte County in North Carolina, it seems only a matter of time before the sick perpetrator moves on to something more sinister.

And when a woman’s body is found disfigured and posed in the same disturbing manner, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan faces a case that will test her to her limit… because of all the creatures in the world, only humans have the capacity for evil.

Evil Bones – a classy, clever, edge-of-the-seat thriller – is the amazing twenty-fourth high-stakes murder mystery in US author Kathy Reichs’ brilliantly authentic and addictive Temperance Brennan series which began with Déjà Dead in 1997 and, straight out of the blocks, won the Ellis Award for Best First Novel and became an international bestseller. Since then Reichs (pictured below) – herself a forensic anthropologist – has used her own experiences to bring her viscerally real thrillers to life and was a producer of Fox Television’s long-running, hit TV series, Bones, which is based on her work and her novels.

And her mastery of this superb medical science series retains its powerful appeal as we join Temperance (Tempe) in the midst of a hot summer in which small creatures – a rat, a rabbit, a squirrel and a skunk – have been turning up throughout the county. The dead animals have been nailed to trees, their skulls mutilated and distorted to look like faces in a death rictus.

But now the killer is upping the ante with each animal becoming a bigger and bigger species, and just as Tempe has taken temporary charge of her aimless, moody and high maintenance great-niece Ruthie, aged seventeen, she is called out to examine some remains that could be human.

Tempe visits the scene and discovers that the victim is actually a pet dog. As someone who has always found animal cruelty abhorrent, Tempe agrees to help track down the person responsible and is joined by an equally outraged ally in semi-retired homicide detective Erskine ‘Skinny’ Slidell who famously has ‘the personality of mouldy gouda, but good instincts.’ Needing a better understanding of possible motives, Tempe and Skinny seek help from a forensic psychologist. The doctor has no definitive answer but offers several possibilities, warning that the escalating pattern of aggression suggests they should expect even more macabre discoveries… and a shift in the killer’s focus to humans.

And then it happens... a woman is found disfigured and posed in a manner that mimics the animal killings. And soon, the case becomes personal for Tempe when Ruthie goes missing. It’s now clear that Tempe is being taunted. She is the target in a sick game that has her and Slidell racing against a ticking clock and facing a terrifying question… what is ‘pure evil’?

Reichs is at the top of her game in this heart-stopping and fast-paced tale of mystery and murder as stressed-out Tempe tackles a complex, dangerous and baffling case which puts not just her own life on the line but the safety of her beloved family. As always, the fascinating and macabre world of forensic anthropology plays a leading role in an addictive and all-round entertaining drama which sees Tempe caught up in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with a sadistic and unpredictable killer obsessed with the notion of ‘pure evil.’

And at the forefront of all the twisting and turning action stands the commanding figure of Tempe… dependable, super-intelligent, humane, acutely observant, wonderfully witty, and as steely and determined (excuse the pun!) as a dog with a bone.

Written with Reichs’ famously no-nonsense prose, eye-watering, authentic forensic detail, and a richly portrayed cast of characters – including some that have become as familiar to readers as they are to Tempe – Evil Bones will hook you in from the graphic opener to the high octane conclusion.
(Simon & Schuster, hardback, £20)