I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: NetGalley
Bones Never Lie
by
Kathy Reichs
It is part of the Temperance Brennan #17 series and is a forensic mystery in Hardcover edition that was published by Bantam Books on September 23, 2014 and has 336 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Flash and Bones, Bones are Forever, Speaking in Bones, Bones of the Lost, A Conspiracy of Bones, The Bone Collection
Seventeenth in the Temperance Brennan mystery series revolving around a forensics anthropologist with time split between North Carolina, Montreal, and Vermont.
This ARC was provided by NetGalley and Bantam in exchange for an honest review.
My Take
You gotta read this one! Major series change in this!!
Wow, that’s some mix of characters that Reichs has teamed up in Bones Never Lie, lol. Most of ’em you wouldn’t waste a coffee break on. Especially Tinker. What. A. Jerk. I wish he’d put as much effort into solving the case as he does in baiting Slidell. Even if it is a side issue, I’m gonna be right curious to find out what happens to him!
I don’t much care for those characters who are more concerned about public opinion and more concerned about how well liked they are than they are about the victims who need their help.
Tempe is so angry about Ryan absconding, and she’s realized how much she misses his paternalistic protective mode. Hmmm, cake? eat? Still, it’s a careful working partnership in Bones Never Lie, mostly because Tempe isn’t sure if Ryan is participating or about to take off again — and she’ll be getting another short apology.
In some ways, this is really sweet as we meet Tempe’s mama, who takes a really intense interest in the serial killer in this latest round of cases. Daisy also contributes quite a bit to discovering the whodunnit. I’m hoping she lives long enough to help Tempe in a few more cases, *hint, hint*, as she’s lots of fun in spite of her mental health issues. Or maybe because of them? Reichs does provide some interesting insight into Tempe’s mother’s behavior as she descends into a negative state. I do know that I’m enjoying hearing about her mama and getting some background on Tempe’s childhood with its blend of highs and lows. No, money doesn’t buy happiness…but it sure does keep life comfortable while you’re miserable.
In other ways, I feel as if we’re missing Tempe. I’m not sure why I feel this way. Maybe it’s the lack of Katy or Pete in this. The focus on Mama.
Cute that Tempe watches a rerun of Bones.
Reichs brings up the tension with short sentences and stretching out the reveals. And those reveals simply lead to more questions! It always impresses me how writers (and cops!) pull those clues together to find whodunnit. Although, it did take them months to get there. Months that Reichs doesn’t make me feel. Instead, it seems like it takes a week or so for the case to go from start to end as this is the only case Tempe appears to be working. Sure there’s that minor blip in Montreal with the bones that LaManche set aside for her. Obviously, Reichs doesn’t want to lengthen the book to accommodate the months and tons of cases that do go by with all those extra pages, but I would expect to get a sense of time passing. A sense of the frustration they must be feeling, forgetting about this case as they delve into those most current only to be jerked up by a reminder.
There is one person the cops can never get a hold of, and this doesn’t ring any bells? Get anyone wondering?
The Story
It’s an old nightmare for Tempe: Anique Pomerleau. When her DNA turns up on Detective Rodas’ victim, it’s only natural that Umpie turn to Dr. Brennan.
Only it will require Detective Andrew Ryan’s aid as well, and he’s gone AWOL from his job, his life, and Tempe.
When another child is snatched in Charlotte that fits the victim profile, Tempe is pushed to hunt Ryan down. She and Ryan know this woman, how she thinks…and this isn’t a cold case. A child may still be alive…
The Characters
Dr. Temperance Brennan is a forensics anthropologist who splits her time between performing autopsies in Montreal, Canada and Charlotte, North Carolina, where she also lectures. She’s also with the Homicide Cold Case Unit. When in Charlotte, she lives in a tiny house she calls the Annex. Katy is the daughter serving in Afghanistan. Bird is her cat.
Montreal
Lieutenant-Détective Andrew Ryan of the Sûreté du Québec is grieving and has left his known world. Lily is the daughter who died. Charlie is the cockatiel that Tempe and Andrew share.
Forensics in Québec County
Dr. Pierre LaManche is the head pathologist in Montreal at the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale, and Tempe’s boss. Dr. Jean Morin is another pathologist.
St. Johnsbury, Vermont
Detective Umparo “Umpie” Rodas is from Hardwick, Vermont, with a case that he believes ties in with one of Charlotte PD’s. Nellie Gower is a twelve-year-old who disappeared in 2007; she was found eight days later. The condescending Cheri Karras is with the chief ME’s office in Burlington.
Luther Dew is with ICE.
North Carolina
Heatherhill Farm is a fancy retreat for the well-heeled with issues and is run by Dr. Luna Finch. It’s where Tempe’s mother, Daisy Brennan, née Katherine Daessee Lee, who is “nutty as a bag of squirrels”, goes when she gets too down. Harry is Tempe’s sister who’s man-obsessed. Cécile Gosselin, a.k.a., Goose, is a combination nurse and maid who takes care of Daisy when she’s in her upswing.
Forensics in Mecklenburg County, Charlotte
Dr. Tim Larabee is the county’s medical examiner and Tempe’s boss. Joe Hawkins is an investigator with MCME. Mrs. Flowers is a secretary. Marty Parent is the DNA analyst at the CMPD lab. Pastori is the computer geek.
Connie Rossi is a DA. Deputy Chief Denise Salter has to be convinced. Zoeller is a cop who waves off Tempe’s concerns and can’t be bothered with an Amber Alert.
Homicide Cold Case Unit
Honor Barrow heads up the Homicide Cold Case Unit, which he’s run from its beginning. Homicide Detective Erskine “Skinny” Slidell is not one of Tempe’s favorite cops. Lol, she says he’s “a legend in his own mind”. Verlene Wryznyk is his now ex-girlfriend. He and Barrow had been partners back in the day. Agent Beau Tinker is State Bureau of Investigation (SBI, the state version of the FBI).
The Cases
Michelle “Shelly” Leal was taken last Friday.
Lizzie Nance was one of Slidell’s failures. Her mother was Cynthia Pridemore; Rebecca was a sister. Lionel Nance was her dad and Cynthia’s ex. John Pridemore is her current husband.
It’s Mama who finds Avery Koseluk, Tia Estrada, and Colleen Donovan. The lead detective on Avery’s case is Detective Spero with the Kannapolis PD. Laura Lonergan is Colleen’s meth-addicted aunt; Sarah Merikoski, a.k.a., Crystal Rose, filed the Missing Persons report. Pat Tassat was an MP investigator who put Colleen on a national database for missing kids. Deputy Henrietta Hull with Anson County Sheriff’s Office has Tia’s case. Dr. Perry L. Bullsbridge was the incompetent who did Tia’s postmortem.
It’s Angela Robinson, Marie-Joelle Bastien, and Manon Violette from Monday Mourning, 7, who show Mama the pattern. Andre and Marguerite Violette are Manon’s angry, grieving parents. Sheriff Willis Trout of Tehama County can’t be bothered to help with Angela’s case. Bernadette Higham lived with Harlan McGee and had two daughters including Sandra and Tawny McGee, a survivor. Bernadette is now married to the very unsupportive Jacob Kezerian. Dr. Pamela Lindahl was Tawny’s social services psychiatrist.
Anique Pomerleau was a serial torturer and murderer who almost offed Tempe in Monday Mourning. Detectives Luc Claudel and Michel Charbonneau with the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal had worked the case with Ryan. Stéphan Menard, a.k.a., Neal Wesley Catts, was Anique’s partner in this, and they used the Corneaus‘ (Menard’s grandparents, Simon and Rose) house on de Sébaspotol where the bodies were found in Monday Mourning. Sabine Pomerleau is Anique’s mother; M. Simone is her LPN.
Mercy Hospital
Dr. Hamet Ajax, formerly Hamir Ajey, is a part-time ER doctor and a convicted pedophile. Jonathan Rao is Ajax’s attorney. Ellis Yoder is a CNA, a certified nursing assistant. Bella Viceroy was his girlfriend, and Chester Hovey is the guy Yoder slashed up. Alice Hamilton is also a CNA, and they can never make contact with her. Arnie Saranella is an RN; Grinder is his bad-tempered roommate. Jewell Neighbors is a guest relations specialist. Blanche Oxendine is a now retired from nursing. Ella Mae Nesbitt moved. Dr. Joan Cauthern is Ajax’s supervisor. T. Santos is on the front desk.
Claire Melani is a criminologist and colleague of Tempe’s at the University of North Carolina. VICAP is the FBI’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, a national database that keeps a record of information about crimes. HamLover frequents a chatroom about dysmenorrhea. Latoya Ring is a journalist with the Salisbury Post. Leighton Siler is a reporter with the Observer.
Nils Vanderleer is a salesman Tempe meets on the plane. Mary Louise Marcus is Tempe’s neighbor’s granddaughter and available for cat care. Yvonne Marcus is her mother.
The Cover and Title
The cover has this abstract feel with its bright red and blue until you take a closer look at this x-ray of a skull, neck, and shoulders…gives me the shivers!
The title is what Tempe always tells Slidell, Bones Never Lie.
