The devil is in the details.... (Devil Bones - Kathy Reichs)

Member Name: sparkymarky1973

Product:	Devil Bones - Kathy Reichs
Date:	02/10/09 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Another gripping, gritty thriller from an established female talent

Disadvantages: Gets a bit complicated towards the books climax with lots of false leads

The eleventh book in the Temperance Brennan series writen by Kathy Reichs, who is also jointly responsible for hit T.V series Bones loosely inspired by the characters in these novels, begins with a grisly discovery. In the abandoned sub-basement of a dilapitated building, a skull has been found along with two cauldrons filled with dirt that conceal their own hidden secrets. The whole thing looks like the site for some kind of Voodoo or Bruja ritual and it is up to Tempe to determine the age of both the bones found inside the cauldrons and the skull in order to decide whether foul play is involved. Shortly afterwards, the decapitated body of a young man wrapped in tarpaulin is also found on the banks of a river; strange satanic symbols carved into his chest. Homicide Detective Erskine Slidell thinks both cases are connected but Tempe has trouble fitting in how Voodoo or Bruja could be linked to Satanism. Still, she begins investigating a link between the two and this leads her into a journey deep into the heart of alternative religions such as Santeria and Wicca. Meanwhile, Tempe's progress is dogged by an enthusiastic journalist eager to dig up material for a true-crime novel and a story she thinks will make her career. And evangelical County Commissioner Lingo is keen to stir up public unrest with his sermons and speeches about the dangers of straying from the path of The Lord and following Satan into darkness. With her own personal demons to face and ambiguity still lingering over the status of her relationship with Canadian Detective Ryan, further complicated by the new appearance in her life of a former high-school flame, Tempe has more than enough to keep her hands full in what is one of the better of the recnt Reichs' novels. Once again Kathy Reichs proves why she is at the top of her game with yet another competent thriller that shows no signs of going stale!

If I had one complaint, it would be that I am not keen on her recent style of ending almost each chapter either on a cliff-hanger or on a veiled hint of what is next to come. Once or twice in a novel is acceptable, but Reichs has gotten into the habit of doing this with nearly every chapter thus almost over-doing it with the suspense. It almost makes reading her novels a bit like a roller-coaster ride with lots of ups and downs but this is only a personal issue and not one that would stop me from reading these books because Reichs is still better than most other female crime-writers, only Tess Geritsen and Karin Slaughter come close at the moment in my mind- P.J.Tracey is good but not in the same league, and when she concentrates more on the forensic anthropology and less on Tempe's stormy relationship problems, her books make for verey good reading indeed! In point of fact, the weaker of her novels are all those that focus more on Tempe's on-off status with ex-husband, Pete and new flame, Ryan. This latest, I am glad to say, is back to basics and more centred around a tightly-knit and complicated plot that, at times, seems chock-full of clues and red herrings aimed to mis-direct and manipulate the reader away from the genuine culprit.

Once again too, Reichs uses inspiration from her own experiences as a real-life forensic anthropologist and even dedicates the story to a whole host of Police Officers who have died doing their duty in Charlotte, North Carolina where the book is set. Unlike some authors who have given up their careers to follow their writing full-time, Reichs still splits her time between consulting for Bones, writing these thrillers and doing her original job as a consulting forensic expert. The front of this book almost reads as a resume as it details the main bullet points of Kathy's career and much of the opening and closing pages is full of glorious self-promotion. This is no doubt more down to the publishers than the writer herself, even the cover states "The author who inspired the hit T.V series Bones", and comes across as perhaps a little self-congratulory but don't let that put you off. Because if you like graphic, accurately-detailed forensic thrillers and you like your heroines gritty, tough and uncompromising then you are a fool for not picking up this series! This paticular novel can be easily read as a stand-alone with no previous experience of the character and that is another advantage. Too many thrillers these days rely on the fact that you have read the others in a series. Not here, this can be enjoyed as much by newcomers as it can by established Temperance fans. And if you like Bones, it wouldn't hurt to discover just where the ideas originated because these books knock spots off the T.V show....

Summary: The discovery of a ritual site in an old cellar provokes local hysteria and begins a new mystery