In a profession like this, you’re bound to make enemies . . .

Book blurb

An eye . . .

It all starts when Dr Temperance Brennan finds a box on her porch. Inside is a fresh human eyeball with GPS coordinates etched into it. They lead her to a macabre discovery in a Benedictine Monastery, and soon after she discovers a mummified corpse in a state park.

. . . for an eye

There seems to be no pattern to these killings, except that each mimics a killing connected to something a younger Tempe experienced, or barely escaped. Someone is targeting her, and she needs to figure out why before they strike again.

And then her daughter Katy disappears.

Someone is playing a dangerous game with Tempe.
And they won’t stop until they have taken everything from her . . .

Electrifying, heart-stopping and compulsive, this is Tempe’s most personal and dangerous case yet . . .

My thoughts

Although I’m sharing my thoughts on Cold, Cold Bones by Kathy Reichs after The Bone Hacker, her latest Tempe Brennan book, I just had to read it beforehand because if I can I read a series in order and this is a series that I’ve read all of so it seemed right to.

Tempe’s next door neighbour is hounding her to get rid of a garden feature. Apparently his son is scared of it, even though Tempe is paying for the child to have sessions with a therapist! I found this an interesting thread in the book because he’s possibly a candidate for the killer a bit of a stretch, a lead to a future plot maybe! Or, it’s one of several mental health threads that are a feature in the book.

Tempe’s daughter Kate is now out of the army and looking to use some money she has to support the homeless, especially those veterans that find themselves on the streets, so she volunteers at a shelter. Tempe is helping her settle into her new apartment.

It all starts with an eyeball, left on Tempe’s doorstep.

Andrew Ryan is in Montreal so Tempe calls ex Detective Skinny Slidell, he’s attached to a police cold cases unit. They are also supported by a police detective Hunter.

The eyeball has coordinates minutely etched on it.

The coordinates lead to a monastery grounds where a head is found.

Then more bodies. The MO (modus operandi) are different in each case.

Then Katy goes off grid. Tempe is worried since she has had no response to her messages but everyone implies that Katy has just taken some time out. Has Katy got PTSD from her overseas service? As so many veterans seem to have. Not wanting to be thought of as an overwrought mother she keeps her worries to herself but tries to find out what has happened by visiting the shelter where Katy volunteers.

What strikes Tempe is that they are replicating her old cases – Who would want to do this? Why?

Skinny Slidell and Tempe investigate although Skinny isn’t always happy with Tempe wanting to tag along!

They are getting closer to finding out the truth when Tempe gets an unexpected late night caller.

Tempe is taken!

Will Slidell figure out what is going on? Will he find Tempe before the killer reaps their revenge?

This book is intriguing and thought provoking it brings the reader a terrific story regarding the mystery surrounding who is committing these crimes and why they are targeting Tempe. It also highlights mental health issues that of what motivates a person to kill, that first moment when they change into a killer and also the subject of homelessness especially amongst American veterans who often return from overseas service and struggle to reintegrate into society because of what they have experienced.

It’s a compelling storyline and whilst it was no great surprise regarding ‘who dunnit’ it’s an enjoyable and entertaining read.

Book: Purchased

This is my 9th #20booksofsummer23 read.

Information

Published: Simon & Schuster UK (16 Mar. 2023) |@simonschusterUK |352 pages

Buy: Publisher links | AmazonSmileUK | Bookshop.org (Affiliate link)

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 novels 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 and the Temperance Brennan short story collection, The Bone Collection. In addition, Kathy co-authors the Virals young adult series with her son, Brendan Reichs. The best-selling titles are: Virals, Seizure, Code, Exposure, and Terminal along with two Virals e-novellas, Shift and Swipe. These books follow the adventures of Temperance Brennan’s great niece, Tory Brennan. Dr. Reichs is 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 continues to do so for 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 with identifying remains found at ground zero of the World Trade Center following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Dr. Reichs is one of only 100 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 is currently a member of the National Police Services Advisory Council in Canada. She is a Professor 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.

Kathy’s website |@KathyReichs |Simon & Schuster author page

Books

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