Murder Month 2023 - Cold Cold Bones

Title and Author: Cold Cold Bones by Kathy Reichs

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought

Buy from (Affiliate): Bookshop.org

I had no plans to read/audiobook Cold Cold Bones by Kathy Reichs this month. I was considering saving this for next month for some reason (either though I preordered the audiobook last year before I cancelled Audible - again. I'm back for the next four month for £3.99 - I know, I'm weak. But am going to ruin their Plus Catalogue for a while so sorry in advance for some weird reviews in the coming months), but out of nowhere, I was desperate to listen to this. 

Forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan is back in her 21st outing. And it all starts when she helps her daughter, Katy, move house after her stints in the army. Brennan thinks Katy might be suffering from PTSD, but won't say anything. But when the pair return to Brennan's home, they discover a box. With an eye in it. 

From there, bodies begin to slowly turn up that have no pattern. But Brennan can't shake the feeling that they feel awfully familiar. Like cases she's has been involved with in the past. Is she the connection between them? And, if so, the killer is taunting her, watching her, buying their time before they strike...

And when they did, she won't see it coming.

If you followed me long enough, you know I always enjoy reading Kathy Reichs and her Temperance Brennan novels. And this is no exception. 

This is such much fun and entertaining/addictive as heck! 

With this nodding back to previous cases, long time fans will enjoy this outing. But new readers will be able to see this as a standalone and will be able to keep up. 

The writing is punchy with short, edge of your seat chapters and the humour is still there (thank goodness! I can't do crime without a hint of some humour and Temperance is as sarcastic and dry as ever!). Plus, it was so lovely to return to characters I haven't spend time with in YEARS (oh, hi Skinny and hi Andrew Ryan! Fancy seeing you here as, last time I read a Tempe novel, you guys had broken up). 

It felt like returning to old friends. And seeing as I class Kathy Reichs's Temperance Brennan & Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli and Isles series as my first "real" adult crime/thriller novels, I have a soft spot for these characters.

I am going to admit that this isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea with the humour, writing, plot (if you've read one Temperance Brennan novel, you know the basic route of what will happen [chapters ending with a cliffhanger, Temperance getting involved when she really shouldn't, her life ending up in danger, etc]), but I enjoy myself hugely with this. So much so, I'm planning to reread some of her novels and read some I haven't, starting with Bones Are Forever (which, thank you library audiobook app, I've started listening to now).