- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd; First Edition edition (30 Aug 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0434014621
- ISBN-13: 978-0434014620
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 14.5 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 219,954 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Bones to Ashes
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
Kathy Reichs is something special. Since achieving a secure position in the upper echelons of crime writers, she has refused to rest on her laurels and (with only the occasional misstep) has consolidated her success with a series of novels that subtly finesse the formula that has gleaned her so many readers.
Bones to Ashes is the latest title to add lustre to her reputation. Dr Temperance Brennan is examining the skeleton of a young girl, and finds herself losing the necessary distance she tries to maintain from all the cases she works on. Are the bones deformed or diseased? Or has some post-mortem damage been wrought upon them? Coroner Yves Bradette seems prepared file this information in the Dead Letters Department -- an ancient case, with no current relevance. But (as so often before) Tempe has other ideas, and something is stirring in her synapses -- a mystery involving the disappearance of a childhood friend. Matters are complicated when Detective Andrew Ryan (assigned to an allied case) asks Tempe to help with three missing persons – a trio of unidentified female corpses. Is there a serial killer at work?
There is often a defining moment when the work of a much-loved author imperceptibly becomes over-familiar, and readers have less enthusiasm for their work. Thankfully, on the evidence of Bones to Ashes, that day is quite some time in the future for Kathy Reichs, as all the elements that have made her books so involving are still being polished and refined here. Followers of Temperance Brennan need not hesitate to add this to their collection. --Barry Forshaw
Review
In her Montreal office, forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan stares down at the old bones on her desk. Are they the bones of an old friend?Temperance Brennan (Monday Mourning, 2004, etc.) was eight when she met ten-year-old Evangeline Landry, who for the next four years was her closest friend. Both had been lonely girls, strangers in a strange land. Tempe had been transplanted from Chicago to Charlotte, Evangeline from Acadia, Canada. Abruptly, without a trace, Evangeline vanished, but Tempe has never been able to forget her. Thirty years later, a female skeleton is plaguing her with painful questions. How old is old? Was the death violent? Is it absurd to think what she's thinking just because the bones were found in Acadia? Answers are hard to come by, in part because Tempe's plate is piled even higher than usual. Detective Lieutenant Andy Ryan is handling the scary new case of five girls in their late teens to early 20s, three missing, two dead. Have they fallen victim to a serial killer? And of course there's Ryan himself, a lover acting uncomfortably cool. Tempe, beset and brilliant as always, buckles down to find answers, only some of which will be rooted in the death sciences.A bit of a jumble at the end - Reichs is a committed over-plotter - but Tempe is both deeper and funnier than she's ever been, making this her best outing to date. (Kirkus Reviews)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I think I read Kathy Reichs books because I'm a science nerd who likes whodunits, but I'm getting increasingly irritated with her books I'm afraid.
I finished "Bones to Ashes" by Kathy Reichs today. It's about a bone expert (Temperance Brennan) who studies bones to see if she can work out how someone died. Reich's books alternate between Montreal and North Carolina (her character's an expert for both cities) and this book is set in Montreal.
This book focuses on two cases. One focuses on some possibly old bones with weird markings on them (Brennan almost convinces herself they might be the bones of a friend who disappeared when she was 14), the other focuses on dead bodies that turn up in a frozen lake. The bones by some miraculous coincidence turn out to be related to her former friend's brother-in-law.
It's the tenuous connections that allows Brennan to be inserted into cases she shouldn't really play and part in. It is these tenuous connections that have started to irritate me, however. How many times is she going to find a reason to back herself into a case? She's managed to do it in all of Reich's books so far, and I'm inclined to suspect that she's going to carry on doing it until her readers say 'enough.'
Th other thing that has started to irritate me is the fact that Reichs has a tendency to stop and have temporary reminders about the plot at regular intervals during the book. It's almost as if the expects the reader to walk away from the book for a while and come back, where they left off, some time later. The only good thing about this book is that this book does it slightly less than the other Reichs' books I've read.
If you can over look my grumbles, you might like this book. Sadly, however, I can't and so I've probably decided that I won't read any more of Reichs' books for a while.
I finished "Bones to Ashes" by Kathy Reichs today. It's about a bone expert (Temperance Brennan) who studies bones to see if she can work out how someone died. Reich's books alternate between Montreal and North Carolina (her character's an expert for both cities) and this book is set in Montreal.
This book focuses on two cases. One focuses on some possibly old bones with weird markings on them (Brennan almost convinces herself they might be the bones of a friend who disappeared when she was 14), the other focuses on dead bodies that turn up in a frozen lake. The bones by some miraculous coincidence turn out to be related to her former friend's brother-in-law.
It's the tenuous connections that allows Brennan to be inserted into cases she shouldn't really play and part in. It is these tenuous connections that have started to irritate me, however. How many times is she going to find a reason to back herself into a case? She's managed to do it in all of Reich's books so far, and I'm inclined to suspect that she's going to carry on doing it until her readers say 'enough.'
Th other thing that has started to irritate me is the fact that Reichs has a tendency to stop and have temporary reminders about the plot at regular intervals during the book. It's almost as if the expects the reader to walk away from the book for a while and come back, where they left off, some time later. The only good thing about this book is that this book does it slightly less than the other Reichs' books I've read.
If you can over look my grumbles, you might like this book. Sadly, however, I can't and so I've probably decided that I won't read any more of Reichs' books for a while.
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
After the previous two books of the Temperance Brennan series ("Break No Bones" and "Cross Bones"), I was starting to despair that the series had gone into an irrevocable nosedive. But "Bones to Ashes" brings back a slightly tauter writing style and some serious whodunnit puzzles. There's also a lot of what I call "whatdunnit"; that is, sometimes the reader doesn't even know what has happened for sure, which only deepens the mystery.
My only beef with the current book is the character of Harry, Tempe's younger sister. She is one of the most irritating, annoying, and unbelievable characters to ever appear in mystery fiction, and her presence in the story is very distracting. Don't kill her off, please, Ms. Reichs -- that would give Tempe even more angst -- but please leave her at home. I would also recommend "The Fates" by Tino Georgiou. I just finished it and can't stop talking about it> Must read.
My only beef with the current book is the character of Harry, Tempe's younger sister. She is one of the most irritating, annoying, and unbelievable characters to ever appear in mystery fiction, and her presence in the story is very distracting. Don't kill her off, please, Ms. Reichs -- that would give Tempe even more angst -- but please leave her at home. I would also recommend "The Fates" by Tino Georgiou. I just finished it and can't stop talking about it> Must read.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've read many Reich's novels during the past years, and enjoyed them thoroughly, yet Bones to Ashes disappointed me. The fact is, I find it quite difficult to believe that, after many years, Tempe Brennan discovers not only what happened to her long-lost childhood friend Evangeline,but also is catapulted into a world of child abuse, pornography, depravity. It's just that the coincidences appear too many and the chain of events seems forced. All the pieces of the puzzle at the end fit, but the impression you receive is of something artificial and quite not right.
Also, Tempe's memories of her childhood and pure friendship seem irreal, not at all concrete. They look more like a reverie: it's true childhood is often evoked as an idyllic, magic time, yet this kind of interpretation seems out of place in a crime novel, and clashes with the corruption of the real world Dr.Brennan faces everyday.
There is something I found interesting though: the description of the Acadian culture, which is something I did know nothing about. It's very fascinating to think of these people so proud of their past and their heritage, and it's a good move on Reich's part to draw our attention to l'Acadie.
Also, Tempe's memories of her childhood and pure friendship seem irreal, not at all concrete. They look more like a reverie: it's true childhood is often evoked as an idyllic, magic time, yet this kind of interpretation seems out of place in a crime novel, and clashes with the corruption of the real world Dr.Brennan faces everyday.
There is something I found interesting though: the description of the Acadian culture, which is something I did know nothing about. It's very fascinating to think of these people so proud of their past and their heritage, and it's a good move on Reich's part to draw our attention to l'Acadie.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
not my style
thought i would like these books as I like it on TV but do not like the style of writing
Published 11 months ago by Shooting Star
happygramps
I'm a sucker for Kathy Reichs' books. She writes about her heroine Tempe Brennan, a forensic anthrapologist. Read more
Published 12 months ago by david hampson
I'll make no bones
Many have covered the plot plus it's on the dust jacket so I'll leave this aspect of the review alone. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Jonathan Clark
bought for my grand daughter
cover to cover about 5 times. She really enjoys it real books beat the electronic books any time they have a feel and auror all of its own, great author and written very well. Read more
Published 13 months ago by oilman
Kathy Reichs Novel
It's difficult to know what to say! I've been reading all the Tempe Brennan novels in order of publication. Every book is different. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Ms. Elise Hey
Above Cornwell!
Once again, with the her characters 'home life' Kathy Reichs delivers someone for whom you will have begun to care, several books ago. Read more
Published 18 months ago by D. J. Ferguson
not as good as other books by the same author...
It is about Tempe Brennan who is a forensic anthropologist, and one of the cases she has been asked to look at which could give clues to the disappearance of a childhood friend of... Read more
Published 19 months ago by miss_spookiness
all kathy reichs books are brill
we have found all kathy reichs books are very interesting and some you cant put down untill you finish them
Published 22 months ago by taffyapple
Another great Tempe Brennan crime thriller
Twists and surprises, humour and interesting history. Another excellent read from the obscenely talented Ms Reichs.
Published on 16 Oct 2009 by Limehouse_Lil
not one of her best
I am a real fan of Kathy Reichs' earlier books but this latest is a real disappointment. Maybe she is too caught up with the TV spinoff-simply extending the series with another... Read more
Published on 1 Aug 2009 by pwillow
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