Cold, Cold Bones (Temperance Brennan, #21) by Kathy Reichs (Goodreads Author)
Amy Caudill‘s review
Reading a Kathy Reichs book is for me like visiting an old friend. I have read most if not all of her prior novels, but I was pleasantly surprised when I started this one that it proved to be a trip down memory lane.
Dr. Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist, is back in North Carolina for this one (for readers new to the series, she divides her time professionally between working for a coroner’s office in North Carolina and one in Quebec, Canada,) and is welcoming her grown daughter, Katy, home after a stint in the Army, when an eyeball appears on her back porch. Yes, an eyeball. This first discovery leads Tempe down a path with more twists and turns than a mountain road.
Only gradually does Tempe become aware, along with readers, that this case has similarities to a previous case from years past, and then there is another discovery, and another, and soon a pattern emerges that the anthropologist and readers alike will recognize as highlights from Reich’s prior novels. Getting the often cranky but earnest Detective Slidell on board is a help to Tempe, but the copycat appears to have an inside source, one which proves elusive to both parties.
Worse still, Tempe’s daughter has disappeared. Is she off somewhere dealing with PTSD, or is her silence a sign that she has somehow been drawn into these horrible events? A final confrontation between Tempe and the culprit which was foreshadowed but only revealed at the eleventh hour showcases both the depraved depths one can reach for revenge, and the heroic efforts of the other for the safety of a child.
Prior readers of the series will enjoy the trip revisiting past novels, like a clip episode of a favorite TV show: while there is plenty of action, suspense, and drama to keep neophytes entertained. I give this story five stars, as I rarely have enjoyed one of author Kathy Reich’s novels more.