A Temperance Brennan Novel Book 23
Boy howdy do I love it when I find an established series that I can get into, crave another, and read as standalones. Does it get better than that? I think not.
Book Blurb:
#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with a twisty, unputdownable thriller featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, who finds herself at the center of a Washington, DC, arson investigation that spawns deepening levels of mystery and, ultimately, violence.
Always apprehensive about working fire scenes, Tempe is called to Washington, DC, to analyze the victims of a deadly blaze and sees her misgivings justified. The devastated building is in Foggy Bottom, a neighborhood with a colorful past and present, and Tempe becomes suspicious about the property’s ownership when she delves into its history.
The pieces start falling into place strangely and quickly, and, sensing a good story, Tempe teams with a new ally, telejournalist Ivy Doyle. Soon the duo learns that back in the thirties and forties the home was the hangout of a group of bootleggers and racketeers known as the Foggy Bottom Gang. Though interesting, this fact seems irrelevant—until the son of a Foggy Bottom gang member is shot dead at his home in an affluent part of the district. Coincidence? Targeted attacks? So many questions.
As Tempe and Ivy dig deeper, an arrest is finally made. Then another Foggy Bottom Gang-linked property burns to the ground, claiming one more victim. Slowly, Tempe’s instincts begin pointing to the obvious: somehow, her moves since coming to Washington have been anticipated, and every path forward seems to bring with it a lethal threat.
My Review:
Write what you know…isn’t that the saying? And this author does just that.
I love stepping into the world of forensics and with whom better than an acclaimed expert in the field. Temperance “Tempe” Brennan answers a call from Washington to look into the fire in Foggy Bottom that resulted in multiple fatalities.
Apparently, the site of an illegally run AirBNB, it’ll be difficult to buck the local fire officials. Tempe had special plans with her long-term love interest, reservations set, and had to cancel those incurring the wrath of said boyfriend. Not bad enough she had to cancel those plans but then she’s confronted with no available accommodations and has to accept the invitation of her daughter’s friend, a reporter, Ivy Doyle. Of course, she is not free to divulge findings until they are properly released. They manage to find a cooperative compromise.
Completing a thorough sweep of the house, however, reveals yet another body in a sub-area stuffed away in a sack that obviously dates well back prior to this fire. Multi-layers of investigation, descriptions of what happens and why to a body may get graphic but fascinating at the same time. The complexity ramps up with numerous threads beyond forensic anthropology. There is a sense of humor displayed here, often manifest in severe crime scenes that helps to keep the macabre down a bit.
The tension builds as more scientific evidence is uncovered, solving plot points along the way. I really enjoy the intelligence of Tempe, her independence, still at the same time, wondering if she’s killed her long-term romance with Ryan. Also, I wondered what line would be drawn in the real world where forensics anthropology would have rightly ended and law enforcement would take it from there. Cross-over into someone else’s job?
The pacing is amazing, so much information (even what you might not have wanted to know), and a storyline that keeps you flipping pages. As I do sometimes, I’ll now go back now and see if I can’t find a book that takes place in Canada (as the series sometimes does).
This series, however, is a solid one for me and if it’s new to you as well, I’ll heartily recommend it. The TV series “Bones” was created from the experiences and books by this author starring Emily Deschanel as Temperance Brennan. I’m going to have to revisit that now, too.
I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.
Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars 
Book Details:
Genre: Medical Fiction, Medical Thrillers, Women Sleuth Mysteries
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
ASIN: B0CLHHNHN9
Listening Length: 8 hrs 40 mins
Narrator: Linda Emond
Publication Date: August 6, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Fire and Bones Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
The Author: Kathy Reichs’s first novel Déjà Dead catapulted her to fame when it became a New York Times bestseller and won the 1997 Ellis Award for Best First Novel. Her other Temperance Brennan books include Death du Jour, Deadly Décisions, Fatal Voyage, Grave Secrets, Bare Bones, Monday Mourning, Cross Bones, Break No Bones, Bones to Ashes, Devil Bones, 206 Bones, Spider Bones, Flash and Bones, Bones Are Forever, Bones of the Lost, Bones Never Lie, Speaking in Bones, A Conspiracy of Bones, The Bone Code, Cold Cold Bones, The Bone Hacker and the Temperance Brennan short story collection, The Bone Collection. Fire and Bones will be released in the Summer of 2024. In addition, Kathy co-authored the Virals young adult series with her son, Brendan Reichs. The best-selling titles are: Virals, Seizure, Code, Exposure, Terminal, and the novella collection Trace Evidence. The series follows the adventures of Temperance Brennan’s great niece, Tory Brennan. Dr. Reichs was also a producer of the hit Fox TV series, Bones, which is based on her work and her novels.
From teaching FBI agents how to detect and recover human remains, to separating and identifying commingled body parts in her Montreal lab, as a forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs has brought her own dramatic work experience to her mesmerizing forensic thrillers. For years she consulted to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in North Carolina and to the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Québec. Dr. Reichs has travelled to Rwanda to testify at the UN Tribunal on Genocide, and helped exhume a mass grave in Guatemala. As part of her work at JPAC (Formerly CILHI) she aided in the identification of war dead from World War II, Korea, and Southeast Asia. Dr. Reichs also assisted in the recovery of remains at the World Trade Center following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Dr. Reichs is one of very few forensic anthropologists ever certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. She served on the Board of Directors and as Vice President of both the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, and as a member of the National Police Services Advisory Council in Canada. She is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.
Dr. Reichs is a native of Chicago, where she received her Ph.D. at Northwestern. She now divides her time between Charlotte, NC and Montreal, Québec.
©2024 V Williams
Rosepoint Publishing 