The Bone Code
Kathy Reichs
#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with her twentieth gripping novel featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, whose examinations, fifteen years apart, of unidentified bodies washed up from the sea may be connected to a deadly new pestilence. A storm has hit South Carolina, dredging up crimes of the past. On the way to Isle of Palms, a barrier island off the South Carolina coast, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan receives a call from the Charleston coroner. more
368 pages, Hardcover
First published Scribner
4.02
Rating
15085
Ratings
1386
Reviews
Kathy Reichs
161 books 15975 followers
Kathy Reichs is a forensic anthropologist for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, State of North Carolina, and for the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Quebec. She is one of only fifty forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and is on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. A professor of anthropology at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Dr. Reichs is a native of Chicago, where she received her Ph.D. at Northwestern. She now divides her time between Charlotte and Montreal and is a frequent expert witness in criminal trials.Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best First Novel (1998): Deja Dead
Community reviews
For fans of Rizzoli & Isles comes The Bone Code. Dr. Brennan is a forensic anthropologist who is using science and detective work to solve crimes. Two corpses are discovered in a container which sparks Dr. Brennan's recollection of an earlier case involving similar circumstances. more
The Bone Code by Kathy Reichs is a 2021 Scribner publication. After a South Carolina hurricane washed up a medical waste container bearing two bodies- Tempe is immediately reminded of a similar case she worked in Quebec. She and Ryan team up again to discover who the two women were in the container, and the possible connection between the old cases and this new discovery. This 20th installment in the series is set a little way into the future, where Covid-19 has been contained- although it is still very much in everyone's consciousness. (Don't worry, this story is not about Covid- it is only mentioned in passing a couple of times. more
I’ve been reading and enjoying this series for years. And though this is book 20 of the Temperance Brennan series, it remains one of my favorites. Tempe Brennan is a forensic anthropologist who splits her time between Montreal and South Carolina. And this book takes us back and forth between the two…several times. A mysterious barrel washes ashore in S. more
I'm a longtime fan of Kathy Reichs and of the Tempe Brennan series. I’ve read all of the books and greatly enjoyed them. So, it is with regret that I say this book is a complete and utter mess. The A story is pretty standard Tempe fare. Four young women are murdered, their bodies sealed inside two containers and tossed in the water. more
When a container washed ashore and was found to have two decomposed bodies inside, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan was called. What Tempe found chilled her as she could see the similarities between these current bodies and a case from fifteen years prior that was never solved. Tempe was determined to dig her deepest, open the cold case and find some answers. But would everything go to plan. Tempe and Birdie (her cat) flew to Montreal to follow the cold case – with the approval of her boss Pierre LaManch – and to have Andrew Ryan help her out. more
It has been interesting reading how authors have incorporated Covid into their book plots. This is the third mystery/thriller in a row I have read that does just that, all with the Covid crisis being used by unscrupulous people who have something to gain. The way of the world, greed ever present. Had a hard time at times with this story. Although the premise was good, and I still enjoy Tempe and Ryaan, I found myself bogged down by all the details. more
I have long been a fan of Kathy Reichs novels, particularly her forensic anthropology series featuring Temperance Brennan. The stories not only entertain and keep the reader on the edge of their seat, but are full of educational moments and peppered with humour to keep things moving along. This was another winner by Reichs, with her cross-border protagonist working magic with bones and unsolved cases. While Dr. Temperance (Tempe) Brennan is preparing for a hurricane in North Carolina, she is visited by a patient woman with a curious mission, to help uncover a death mask that might have been made of her great-aunt many years ago. more
⭐️3. 5 Stars⭐️The Bone Code by Kathy Reichs is set in a post COVID world. A storm hits the South Carolina coast and a medical waste container washes up on the beach containing two decomposed bodies wrapped in plastic sheeting. The bodies are of a woman and child. Could this be identical to a cold case fifteen years earlier in Quebec. more
Fast paced thriller regarding separate but similar multiple murders that occurred 15 years apart from each other. MO is identical but one set of victims were killed in Canada and the other set of victims killed in the U. S. Kathy Reichs does a fabulous job with story arc, flow, and character development; she throws in humor along the way which makes for a terrific read. . more
I usually really like this series, but I was very disappointed in the use of an anti-vaccine plot device, featuring characters who spiked vaccines with CRISPR (as a molecular biologist I can tell you it just doesn't work that way) to cause mutation and disease in people. In a time when vaccine hesitancy, conspiracy theories, and scientific misinformation abound, this plot line is at best tone deaf and at worst dangerous. more
This review can also be found at https://carolesrandomlife. com/I really enjoyed this book. This is the twentieth installment in the Temperance Brennan series but it could work as a stand-alone. I binged this series years ago but missed picking up any of the newer installments until this one and I had no problem jumping back into the series. I love books that have medical or scientific elements so this is a series that has always appealed to me. more
I received a gifted advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via Kaleidoscopic book tours and the publishers. The Bone Code is book 20 in the Temperance Brennan series by Kathy Reichs and begins during a hurricane storm in which Temperance gets a stranger visiting her at her workplace and then further disturbing news of a shipping container being washed ashore during the storm containing two bodies. The bodies are that of two young girls and are very close in similarities to a previous cold case Temperance was involved in years before. Temperance turns to her boyfriend Andrew Ryan to help her try to crack both cases, and flies out to Montreal to try and put all four victims to rest and bring their murderer to justice. Temperance has never gotten the first cold case out of her mind and the new bodies bring it all rushing back to haunt her. more
Good addition to the series. A hurricane hits South Carolina and washes up a storage container holding two bodies wrapped in plastic. When Tempe sees the contents, it immediately reminds her of an almost identical case from Quebec many years before. Are the two sets of bodies connected to each other, and more importantly, who are the people inside. Although at times these books tend to go off on tangents pontificating about certain subjects (in this case, vaccine development and death masks) the overall storylines are always creative and exciting and this one is no exception. more
The Bone Code by Kathy Reichs is delivered on an outstanding platform that is sure to snag readers for her other books. I had not read any of her books but was happy to know this was the 20th in this series and can be read out of order. The setting is the Isle of Palms beach in South Carolina where a Forensic Investigator Temperance "Bones" along side her long time beau Andrew open up a cold case that took place over 15 years earlier. The scene begins when a canister washing upon shore with two bodies inside bound wrapped in plastic. When the familiarity of the case floods her memories of the previous case she takes it on in hopes of solving both. more
The 20th in the series, and I never tire of reading about the adventures of the amazing Temperance Brennan. In this one bodies are found in Charleston, SC with eerie similarities to a case Tempe had 15 years ago in Quebec. Could these murders be related. Seems a reach since they are geographically distanced as well as the lengthy time lapse. But the similarities nag at Tempe and she starts investigating and turning over clues. more
The Bone Code is the twentieth book in the Temperance Brennan series. Temperance is a forensic anthropologist who has worked on a variety of cases. While this could be read as a standalone novel, I recommend reading some of the earlier books first. In The Bone Code, Temperance gets involved with a case in Charleston that reminds her of a cold case she worked years earlier in Quebec. Meanwhile, a virus outbreak in Charleston is causing panic. more
What a terribly irresponsible book to publish right now. Did anyone think about this, like, at all. Was your target audience a certain corner of the internet populated by war hungry conspiracy theorists. Or you'd just prefer it if people keep dying from poor popular decisions. If I can set the story aside, if, I found the formulaic writing more annoying than usual. more
If you like this series, you will like this installment. This is the second book I have read in this series and I have decided it isn't the series for me. In this case, it isn't the storyline which I find interesting, but the writing style. There seems to be too much description of superfluous things such as what one is wearing or eating and I didn't like all of the quebecismes unnecessarily thrown in. more
I've been a fan of this series it seems like forever - this is the 20th book, and I doubt I've missed more than a couple. They're always a treat to read, and this one is no exception. Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan is off to meet a friend who lives on the Isle of Palms off the coast of South Carolina amid a Category 3 storm that's threatening evacuation. A call from the coroner in Charleston tells her some kind of container has washed up on the beach. It seems the container's filled with two dead bodies - wrapped up in plastic sheeting and secured with electrical wire. more
Hurricanes and viruses and bodies, oh my. We’re not in Kansas anymore, Birdie. Well, they never were, at least not in The Bone Code, which is the 20th installment of the Temperence Brennan “Bones” series by Kathy Reichs. After several just so-so novels, this one really held my interest. As usual, Tempe, a forensic anthropologist, gallivants between Charlotte, N. more
The Bone Code is book #20 in Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan series. Even though the book follows one case that Tempe is working on, and the book in theory works as a stand alone, I still felt like I was late to the party. Not knowing any of Temperance's backstory made it hard to connect with her as a person. Temperance is called to do a forensic analysis of bones of two people found washed ashore in a hazardous waste container. The more she worked on the bones the more a similar case fifteen years ago came to mind. more
This was my first Kathy Reichs book, read more out of curiosity to discover how a crime genre author can span the bestseller lists for 25 years when the techniques of investigation and the enabling technology have changed considerably over that period. While her sleuth, Temperence (Tempe) Brennan hasn’t aged much over that time span, Reichs has managed to keep herself current, even delving into the world of vaccines and mRNA for this, her 20th, novel in the Tempe series. The plot is simple, two bodies of women are found washed up in a container in Charleston, South Carolina, a copy-cat killing of two other females fifteen years ago in Montreal, Quebec which is still unsolved. Approaching the crimes as a forensic anthropologist, Tempe recreates possible scenarios until we get down to an anti-vaxxer’s dream conspiracy. Given Reichs’ dual locations in South Carolina and Quebec, Tempe herself flits between the new case and the cold one, and has two able-bodied assistants—boyfriend Ryan in Quebec and tough cop Voslowsky in South Carolina—to help her out when she is in the other location. more
Review published in: https://diagnosisbookaholic. blogspot. The Temperance Brennan series is one of those series I started reading back when I was a teen and it was first published and one of the few I still keep reading every year. All these long time running series (this is the 20th installment) run the risk of becoming repetitive, but Tempe is still as fresh as in her first case. I’ve always preferred her Canadian cases so I liked how this time she kept jumping around between Montreal and South Carolina. more
This book deserves 4 stars for plot and pacing. But I was very disturbed that the author and publisher thought this was a good time to bring out a book that might discourage people from being vaccinated against COVID. There are people out there who believe that their DNA will be changed if they get vaccinated; why would a scientist want to add to their feeling of unease. more
The Bone Code is the twentieth book in the Temperance Brennan series by American author, Kathy Reichs. When a hurricane washes up a plastic biohazard barrel on the shore in Charleston, Temperance Brennan is called on to examine the remains of two bodies contained within. Naked, killed by a bullet through the head, teeth and fingers removed, wrapped in blue plastic sheeting and secured with red electrical wire, all elements that resonate with Tempe: she can’t forget a virtually identical case in Quebec, fifteen years earlier, never solved. Tempe has also been asked to research the case of a missing nineteenth-century twin: when Polly Beecroft’s twin sister passed on, she left behind a mystery in the form of a death mask. The image of the woman in the mask is identical to the Beecroft twins, and to their grandmother, Susanne Bouvier and her missing twin, Sybil. more
This is the scariest book I have ever read. Why. Read the review to find out. “The Bone Code” is the twentieth novel in the series that inspired the popular TV series “Bones. ” New readers will be quickly immersed in the story, and any information needed from previous books is part of the current narrative. more
Another in the "Bones" series by Kathy Reichs (the 20th). I have never watched the television series. I tried it once for a few minutes, but the actress just didn't fit my "picture" of Tempe Brennan, so I was turned off to it. Anyway, my thoughts. Reading another Kathy Reichs Temperance Brennan “Bones” novels is like visiting with an old friend. more
This is my last Temperance Brennan book. I started reading them after watching Bones (side note, never finished that either). The first handful were pretty good, if dated in tone and language, but I could overlook that in favor of plot and the assumption that the outdated stuff would be corrected over time. A lot did get better, but Reichs continues to refer to geographical areas as "hoods", define her characters in terms of weight/skin color/socioeconomic class/job which she often uses to indicate their (lack of) intelligence, and more. Here is a sampling: "Back in the day, Le Repos was under government contract to provide plots for those making the poor decision to die penniless or nameless. more
So, a quick starting note on this one: If you’re tired of all things COVID and are just looking for an escape, there are COVID references in this book. The book takes place post-pandemic and it’s used primarily as an explanation for people’s reactions to the bacterium mentioned in the book description. To be honest, the bacterium in question and the resounding ‘panic’…isn’t very interesting. What is interesting is our crime. I wanted to know about our victims – why they were killed and who they were – and thoroughly enjoyed Tempe’s investigation. more
The villains of the piece manipulate vaccines to alter DNA, making the vaccine recipients vulnerable to a different deadly infection. Is this REALLY what we’re publishing right now in light of the widespread suspicion of Covid vaccines. And Kathy Reichs is a scientist. This is one of the most irresponsible and tone deaf books I’ve read in a long time. more