GoodRead - Bones of the Lost

I can imagine a few of you seeing this review and going "Isn't this out in late August?", I have my reasons for doing this, the latest Kathy Reichs, now. First, I have a useless memory and want to review this as soon as I can. Second, this is out in August but when I researched it, the dates kept changed so am posting this now. And third, even though I got this from NetGalley from the US publisher (thank you both!), I much prefer the UK cover and, as I am a UK blogger, the UK cover is what I am using.

So, in Temperance Brennan's 16th novel, Temperance is asked to investigate a body of a teenage girl found on an empty road. Simple, you think? Nope. Never in a crime novel is anything simple. Inside the girl's handbag is an ID card of a man who died in a fire five months earlier. How did she get his ID? Did she know him? Is she, what some detective think, a teen prostitute? Or is there something more sinister going on?

As Tempe gets pulled into this case and two others, her personal life is falling apart. Ryan (Tempe's on-off boyfriend) is ignoring her phone calls and texts. Katy (Tempe's daughter), grieving for her boyfriend who died suddenly in Afghanistan, has impulsively joined the Army. And Pete (Tempe's ex) wants Tempe to sign their divorce papers so he can marry his midlife crisis.

Can Tempe hold it all together to figure out how and why her Jane Doe has died...?

As you guys know, I love reading crime. And Kathy Reichs is one of my fave crime writers (even though this will be fifth book I have actually read [but I have audiobooked 4 others so, technically, I have read 9 of her works]) so I knew what I was getting myself into when I started reading this. And it was exactly that. It was fast pace and it kept me guessing. Even when I finished the book and everything was explained, I had to sit down and go "Wait. Let see if I can get this straight in my own head..."

Tempe's snarky humour was there and thank goodness it was as, when the book did slow (not often), the humour carried the story on.

What I liked the most about this story was it wasn't just a crime story of Tempe solving a murder and, because of this, putting her life in danger again (I think she might have a Hero Complex). This felt personal. We saw Tempe being a mother and freaking out that Katy had joined the army. Tempe trying to figure out what relationship with Pete should be. And Tempe trying to go "Why does Ryan not contacting me bother me so?". It has a feel of Bones to Ashes (my first Kathy Reichs novel). Both of these feel personal to Tempe.

Now... I know I enjoyed this and I know some fans of Tempe will enjoy this, but I know that some of you won't like this. And it comes down to two things. The first is the cases itself. There are times I am sure some readers will read this and go "Ok, now we're entering the realms of the ridiculous" (if you have read the story in full, then you understand what I mean).

The second is the lack of technical jargon. In the beginning of the book series, there seems to be heavily-laced with technical information about Tempe's work. Whereas now, it seems much thinner. Some readers will not like the fact that the series is becoming more human aspect driven rather than technically driven.

But I enjoyed reading this. I forget how much I enjoy reading Kathy and that I should read more of her (or maybe return to the TV show, Bones, though I began to get very angry over the whole "Will they, won't they?" of Brennan and Agent Booth [how many seasons/series has that storyline been stretched out for?!]). But I should try and read another of Kathy's novel soon. Maybe Fatal Voyage or Grave Secrets... Or there is a short eNovella coming out soon (or is it today? Will research and let you guys know)?