I was intrigued to read about the work of a forensic anthropologist.

I’ve not read any earlier books in the series, so I’m not sure how typical this is, but can confirm that ‘Fire and Bones’ works well as a standalone. What I do know is that when Detective Deery asks Brennan why she is trying to do his job, she blames him for not pursuing the right leads, then somehow (after unearthing a vital clue) ends up tagging along on suspect interviews with a detective who is otherwise so by-the-book that he drives more slowly than Brennan’s nonagenarian grandmother did when she was was losing her eyesight… I wasn’t convinced by this, or by Brennan’s attachment to the boyfriend she seemed willing to ditch at the slightest invitation, but perhaps I underestimate the appeal of examining old bones.

What’s it about?

An arson in Foggy Bottom leaves 4 people dead, but when Brennan investigates she discovers not just a sub basement but a sub vic – a tiny framed woman, buried in a burlap sack, possibly 80 years ago. No one else seems to care, but Brennan is determined to unearth the truth about this final victim. Can she find out what happened after all this time?

Meanwhile, forced to stay with a local investigative journalist and guided by her intel, Brennan begins to investigate The Foggy Bottom Gang, a group of genuine smugglers from the era of prohibition. The police think the arson is personal; Brennan agrees, but thinks the arson may also be the result of historical grudges. The question is, whose?

What’s it like?

Staccato. Noirish. Clipped.

Reichs’ diction reads like a rushed text message.

‘All I wanted was a hot shower, the pizza, then bed.

‘I got my three wishes. Was down and out when Ray Charles burst into song on my bedside table. “Georgia on my mind.” My current ringtone. You get it, right?’

The brisk tone and frequent foreshadowing (‘If I’d known the answers then, things might have been different’) give the work a noir feel, exacerbated by the gangster theme. I found the bones information fascinating, found the characterisation appealing, but ultimately found the case not quite my cup of tea. Too much gangster, not enough resolution.

After a dramatic interlude, there are clearly too many pages remaining for this to be the end, so there’s a dramatic bonus incident that didn’t fully relate to the preceding material. It did, however, allow the fulfilment of a plot wink I had spotted many chapters earlier. I knew those panic buttons would come in relevant.

Final thoughts

I enjoyed Brennan’s caustic thoughts and her forensic knowledge. I wasn’t especially interested in this particular case, but that’s personal to me, and I did enjoy the side story (the identification of the vic who is eaten by his own dogs!) which makes me think I might enjoy another book by Kathy Reichs.

This is quick paced and I like that real history was intertwined with the fiction, but the ending was awkward (Brennan literally wraps up the ending by answering questions from a character that must surely have already been asked and answered weeks before and acknowledges this by basically having her character say, “I know I’m really forgetful so could you tell mr again…”) and I’m not clear why there’s French randomly sprinkled through the story.

Easy and entertaining to read.

‘Fire and Bones’,
Kathy Reichs,
2024, Simon and Schuster, hardback
Many thanks to the author, publisher and Anne Cater’s Random Things Tours for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and a spot on the blog tour.

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