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Temperance Brennan Novels #24
by Kathy Reichs
#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with a twisty, unputdownable thriller featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, who finds herself enmeshed in a series of grisly animal killings that turn into something far more sinister.
Small creatures—a rat, a rabbit, a squirrel—have been turning up throughout Charlotte, North Carolina, mutilated and displayed in the same bizarre manner. But one day, as Tempe is relaxing at home alongside her aimless, moody great-niece Tory, she's diverted by a disturbing call. Now, it seems, the perp is upping the ante. This find is larger. Could the remains be human?
Tempe visits the scene and discovers that the victim is a dog. Someone's pet. As one who has always found animal cruelty deeply abhorrent, Tempe vows to help apprehend the person responsible for the killings, and due to Tory's especially layered knowledge of animal behavior, the young woman turns out to be a valuable ally in the hunt for answers. Oddly, Tempe discovers that semi-retired homicide detective Erskine "Skinny" Slidell is equally outraged and committed. Needing a better understanding of possible motives, Tempe and Skinny seek input from a forensic psychologist. The doctor has no definitive answer but offers several possibilities, warning that the escalating pattern of aggression suggests even more macabre discoveries—and that the perp's focus may soon shift to humans.
And then it happens. A woman is found disfigured and posed in a manner that mimics the earlier killings.
As Tempe and Slidell follow the horrifying clues to a shocking conclusion, they're forced to confront an increasingly terrifying question: "What is pure evil?"
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (12/11/2025)
I just finished Wild Dark Shores. It was very good. I read all of Charlotte McConaghy's books. I started Simon The Fiddler a book I own but then my library request Evil Bones arrived so I will read this next. #24 in Kathy Reichs series. Then on to Fiddler!
-Paula_Walters
"[Features] a lovably eccentric supporting cast that includes Tempe's erratic daughter, Katy, and grumpy teenage niece, Ruthie, who inject humor into the blood-curdling proceedings. Fans of the series will be satisfied." —Publishers Weekly
"Reichs continues to draw on details and experiences from her own professional life—she too is a forensic anthropologist—to give the stories a sense of realism that keeps them feeling fresh, and she always finds a way to develop a new grisly mystery that keeps us guessing. A fine addition to this popular series." —Booklist
"Apart from recurring characters, this entry is less interested in live people than in dead animals." —Kirkus Reviews
This information about Evil Bones was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
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 Decisions, 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-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 ...
... Full Biography
Link to Kathy Reichs's Website
Name Pronunciation
Kathy Reichs: Last name rhymes with bikes
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