Kathy Reichs

When a plumber discovers the remains of a murdered girl and various dark religious objects in the cellar of a client's house, Temperance Brennan is called in to investigate the case and finds her efforts challenged by vigilante upheavals against Wiccans and occultists. 450,000 first printing.

A Novel

Devil Bones

Peggy Walker

I actually learned a lot that I either didn't know or had forgotten. This is Reich's 11th Temperance Brennan book, and she spends some time telling the reader who she is, what she does, where she works, a lot about Charlotte, NC as a setting, and where she is in her life. It was helpful, actually, since I have not read the whole series, and have read in random order.[return][return]Another reviewer pointed out that she tended to end every chapter with some version of "...what happened next was going to change everything". Very cliffhanger style. I don't remember that from previous books, and wonder if this comes from working on the TV show "Bones".[return][return]At any rate, this story touches on elements of santeria, voodoo, Wicca & satanism, although she doesn't really successfully involve the story in these elements, in my judgement. I found all of the forensic details interesting, but as usual, many of her characters remain sort of hazy.[return][return]I would recommend the book to other fans and people that enjoy reading forensic details. It's a faster read than many of her earlier books which are denser & darker.

Briar's Reviews

Devil Bones was another good book set in the Temperance Brennan series, but I did not find it to be the best. To be, this was the worst book so far in the series. It brought all of the action, death, blood, and bones that all the Temperance Brennan series brings, but I just found it to be boring and predictable. Normally I do not see the ending coming, which made this book a little bit of a let down. For some reason, it didn't hit all the right notes with me. But, it was still a great read by Kathy Reichs! 

The novel was slow and painful to read. There was a lack of Andrew Ryan, and he is definitely a good source of comedy and strife with Tempe. This lack made the book feel slow and boring when they weren't going back and forth with ideas about the murders or their personal lives. I also found Pete to have less of a presence, and that made it even worse. If Ryan isn't there, Pete can at least give some sort of interesting conversation with Tempe! 

Overall, the lack of those two characters made the book seem slow. Ryan and Pete are both fun characters that bring up comedic or dramatic conversations with Tempe. Without them, the loss is clearly visible. 

I give this novel three out of five stars. Although I love Kathy Reichs and I am addicted to her novels, this one just didn't live up to the hype for me.

Devil Bones A Novel

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