Break No Bones (Reichs) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Reichs's series featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, bodes well for this latest installment, in which Brennan once again stumbles on a modern-day mystery inadvertently. While supervising a dig of Native American burial grounds in Charleston, S.C., Brennan finds more recent remains. Soon, her ex-husband, who's a lawyer, appears in town, pursuing leads in a missing persons case connected with a local church. Bodies start piling up at an alarming rate, and Brennan begins to suspect that the deaths are linked to each other and her ex-husband's inquiry. Reichs's down-to-earth heroine is an appealing creation, who deftly juggles personal problems with professional challenges. Despite the somewhat obvious solution, this novel confirms the series' place in the front rank of the ever-expanding forensic thriller subgenre.
Publishers Weekly


While supervising an archaeological field-school dig in Charleston, SC, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan unearths a much-too-recent set of bones fresh enough to bring out her coroner friend, Emma. Struggling with major health issues, Emma begs Tempe to lead the investigation, and soon there's a reunion of sorts for all the series' regulars. Then Pete, Tempe's estranged husband, comes to town to investigate the case of a missing young woman with ties to a Charleston free clinic. The moment the clinic's sleazy personnel are introduced, readers can guess that Pete's and Tempe's cases are totally interlinked. Andrew Ryan, Tempe's Montreal-based detective boyfriend, shows up next, ready to test Tempe's loyalties and help her fend off the bad guys. "Seemingly unconnected" dead bodies surface in all sorts of places, their bones revealing startling parallels. Forensic anthropologist Reichs's change of venue is intriguing in this series' ninth entry, but the case itself is lackluster and the plot exceedingly predictable. Forensic thriller readers, however, will drive demand, which will be high owing to the growing following of the Fox television series Bones, based on Reichs's protagonist. —Teresa L. Jacobsen, Solano Cty. Lib., CA
Library Journal


In this ninth in the popular series, forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan is spending two weeks in May on Dewees, a barrier island north of Charleston, South Carolina, where she is leading a student excavation of a prehistoric site when one of the bodies they find isn't so ancient. After reporting her find to her friend Emma Rousseau, coroner at the Charleston County Coroner's Office, Tempe learns that Emma is ill and unable to investigate; so Tempe fills in for her as a consultant. When another body is found in a different location, the forensic examination of the bones shows a similarity in the manner of death. As Tempe investigates further, another body turns up, leading her to a horrifying conclusion about the motive for these deaths. Complicating matters, Tempe's estranged husband moves into the house she has borrowed, and her boyfriend arrives unexpectedly from Montreal. Tempe must work through her ambivalence about divorcing her unfaithful husband, for whom she still has feelings, but she also cares for her boyfriend. Readers who enjoy Patricia Cornwell's mysteries will appreciate the forensic detail here, and more character-oriented readers will respond to Reichs' likable and well-developed cast, from the local sheriff to Tempe herself, a dedicated woman who feels compelled to provide justice for those who can no longer speak for themselves. An engrossing entry in a widely read series. —Sue O'Brien
Booklist