Product Description

'Death by self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head' is the on-scene assessment, but the victim's relatives are adamant in their rejection of suicide as an explanation. Discovered in a closet, a full week after death, the body is barely recognisable. Extreme heat has accelerated decomposition, and Dr Temperance Brennan's forensic expertise is required. Advanced putrefaction, and the scavenging of starving cats have made it virtually impossible to determine the trajectory of the bullet. But just as Tempe is attempting to make sense of the fracture patterning, an unknown man slips her a photograph of a skeleton, telling her it holds the answer to the man's death-Detective Andrew Ryan is also on the case and, as his relationship with Tempe heats up, together they try to figure out who this orthodox Jew in the Israeli 'import business' really was. Was he involved in the black market trade in antiquities? And whose is the skeleton in the photo? With the help of Jacob Drum, a biblical archaeologist and old friend from the University of North Carolina, Tempe follows the trail of clues all the way to Israel. In the Holy Land, she learns of a strange ossuary at Masada, a shroud, and a tomb that may have held the remains of Jesus' family. But the further she probes into the identity of the ancient skeleton, the more she seems to be putting herself in danger.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #61453 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Review
"'The queen of slice 'em and dice 'em fiction... Terrific' - Independent on Sunday"

Independent on Sunday
'The queen of slice 'em and dice 'em fiction... Terrific'

From the Publisher
The latest gripping thriller from world-class forensic anthropologist, Kathy Reichs, bestselling author of Bare Bones and Monday Mourning

Customer Reviews

Disappointing
Why has Ms Reichs stopped writing in full sentences? This book is full of one- or two-word phrases. Also: points are repeated over & over. A thin plot stretched out too long. And nothing's really solved about the two most important 'finds' (of course.)
Come on, Ms Reichs, you can do better than this!

making no bones about it....
....this is not one of her best. I have read all of the books by Kathy Reichs in the Tempe Brennan series and I am left disappointed by this one. As other reviewers have said it seems to be cashing in on the Dan Brown religious mystery genre but that is not the problem for me.

I expect a finely crafted mystery with some morgue scenes, some site investigation and a little will they won't they romance with Andrew Ryan. What I get is her running around with bits of skeleton trying to find paperwork to justify this.

I have to say that this story felt a bit forced and although the debate about the bones was interesting, I would have preferred for a resolution to the mystery rather than what we get.

As for the traditional murder mystery device - I was shouting out the murderers name by half way through the book!!

It is, I am afraid, a resounding "could do better" from me.

Very disappointing
I'm sorry, but this really isn't up to Kathy Reichs previous novels. The plot is turgid and slow and it is difficult to warm to the one dimensional characters. In the earlier novels characterisation was much better. If this had been the first Reichs novel I had read I would not be reading any more. Definitely not a page turner.