I haven’t read any of Reichs’ previous Temperance Brennan books but I’ve seen a few seasons of the TV show so I’m familiar with the characters. In this installment, Tempe goes up against a vicious killer who appears to have struck again after a 15 year hiatus. In a timely subject, the mystery centers around vaccines and genetic engineering, including details about CRISPR gene editing (the work which netted the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry). Full of wry commentary, some romance, and plenty of forensic detail, the story is a gripper. My only complaint — and this is a spoiler alert — is that part of the story depends on using a vaccine to spread bad juju to unwitting recipients. With all the anti-vaxxers freaking out about vaccines, do we really need that in the story?

This book was received as an ARC from Scribner in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I am a little familiar with the Temperance Brennan series but have not gotten the chance to read any of them and when The Bone Code became available as an ARC, I had to jump at the chance. I am a huge fan of murder mystery series and the twists and turns that come with them and this book did have a lot of them and then some. I was a bit nervous though reading the 20th book in the series that I would not understand the backgrounds but this definitely is not a series you have to read in order. A thrilling case with dark secrets, twists and turns that you will never see coming and it will leave you breathless when you are done.

We will consider adding this title to our Mystery collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this title. I used to be an avid Reichs reader, but I haven't read the last few of her novels. I found the narrator to be judgmental and steeped in privilege (issues that may have existed in previous novels that I didn't notice), and it made it hard to appreciate the actual plot, which was well done. If you like this series, I'm sure you'll like the book.

I've read all the Temperance Brennan books except the last one, A Conspiracy of Bones (it just didn't hold my interest). This one was a bit better, although not as riveting as some of the earlier books in the series. The main crime (two bodies discovered in a shipping container) didn't become compelling until midway through the story--it takes awhile for the disclosure that makes this crime stand out and justify Brennan's interest in the case. I'm used to Reichs' writing style but some of her quirks (the way Brennan describes trying to make a mental connection between two things, the mini cliffhangers at the ends of the chapters, the lengthy scientific explanations given via dialogue) seemed more annoying/abrasive in this book. I found it interesting that it was set in a post-COVID world, and the science tie-in with current headlines (vaccines, CRISPR) was fascinating.

Where to start, I have a few series that are a given for me. Kathy Reich's Temperance Brennan is high on the list. For those of you who read a book and doubt a writer's knowledge on a subject, rest assured Kathy Reichs knows her stuff and then some. I'm fascinated with forensic science. Temperance is a forensic anthropologist (just like Kathy R.) the cases capture me and I don't want to do anything else when I am reading the book. I enjoyed the series so much I binge watched Bones which is based on these books. Back to The Bone Code, not to redo the synopsis. Bodies washed ashore are similar to an old unsolved case. Temperance is busy along with others to discover if they are related, what happened. There's a sub mystery, little humor but mostly mystery. Can't say enough....read the book, you don't have to start from the beginning but I would highly recommend reading them all. Why? Characters with depth, fascinating mystery, well written AND a writer who knows what she is writing about!! I have to say after reading, I thought back and it's a scary thing. Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for allowing me to read an ARC. HUGE thank you to Kathy Reichs for continuing Temperance Brennan's books!

Hurricanes and viruses and bodies, oh my! We’re not in Kansas anymore, Birdie! Well, they never were, at least not in The Bone Code, which is the 20th installment of the Temperence Brennan “Bones” series by Kathy Reichs.
After several just so-so novels, this one really held my interest. As usual, Tempe, a forensic anthropologist, gallivants between Charlotte, N.C. and Montreal – for work and pleasure, as she is now cohabitating with now- retired former Quebec homicide detective Andrew Ryan. And Birdie. Birdie the cat.

Besides the usual deaths – accidental and unknown causes – that cross her path every day, Tempe juggles two major mysteries this time around. First, as the storm threatens, an elderly woman approaches Dr. Brennan with a puzzle. She presents pictures, wondering if Tempe can help identify a woman whom she believes to be an ancestor. Later, when her friend Anne calls for help cleaning up storm damage, Temp gladly passes off this research to her, which leads to an interesting, but tedious, inquiry into death masks. More crucial, however, are the two decomposed bodies that wash ashore off the coast of South Carolina in a medical waste container. Wait! There’s more! Something tickling the back of Tempe’s brain reminds her of an unsolved case in Quebec some 15 years earlier. Whom does she call? No other than her go-to guy – Andrew Ryan! Oui, bien sûr. Yes, of course.

Finally, Charleston is also experiencing an outbreak of a virus spread by dog bites, which has the people in the entire area up in arms either pro – or con – when it comes to how to deal with man’s best friend.

What I loved about this book was that it grabbed me right from the start with the tumultuous weather event and it got wilder and crazier from there. Those who have read previous Temperence Brennan novels know that she can be sarcastic at times, witty at other times. However, she is very good at what she does, even though she is usually up to her lovely neck in trouble. This time is no exception. Once she gets hold of something she does not let go. She’s not afraid to reach out to others when looking for answers either.

Ms. Reichs has penned a colorful array of characters, particularly Detectived Tonia Vislosky with the Charleston PD. Vislosky is tall, quiet – make that taciturn, and extremely competent. Despite their awkward alliance on the case of the two murdered girls, Vislosky and Brennan manage to work well together.

Ryan is, well, he’s Ryan. Now a private investigator, he still has many contacts in the police world, and he makes great use of them. He’s smooth, suave, still good looking. And he’s always there for Tempe. Their interactions made me chuckle at times – lots of one-liners and inside jokes.

The bad guys weren’t hard to figure out, but understanding what they were up to was a challenge. There’s a lot going on here with a ton of scientific language. When I read one of my all-time favorite sayings, " Better living through chemistry, " I figured I could handle it. This is the Covid era, and we don’t entirely escape it. We get exposed to information about vaccines, viruses, and all kinds of genetic research, some of it understandable for non-scientifically predisposed lay brains, and some of it not so much. But that didn’t lessen my enjoyment too much. These dudes were up to something really, really bad. And Tempe’s a brainiac, so researching scientific stuff is what she does, right ?

If that part slows the pace a little, don’t worry ; things get really hopping at the end ! ‘Nuf said about that. I’ll just add that at least there’s a possibility of yet another Temperence Brennan novel.

Thanks to Kathy Reichs for advocating for abused and missing children and women in this book. And thanks to NetGalley, Scribner, and the author for this ARC copy in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

4 stars

Yet another fantastic book by Kathy Reichs! I absolutely loved the books preceding The Bone Code, although I did miss a few of them, but this fills in on previous cases Tempe worked so I don't feel like I missed a ton. I highly recommend this book!!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I've been a longtime fan of Dr. Temperance Brennan, although I haven't kept up with the novels as well as I would have liked. But that was no problem with this newest title. I fell right back into Tempe's world without feeling like I'd missed anything. This latest case in Charlotte brings back painful memories of a cold case from years before in Montreal, and Temperance and beau Andrew Ryan work together across the borders to solve both cases, Recommended!

Kathy Reichs is one of my favorite authors. Her books are educational as well as entertaining. The story line doesn't slow down from page one to the end. Full of facts and fiction, it's a winner in my mind.

2.5/5

This was an ARC that I read through NetGalley.

The story of THE BONE CODE was pretty strong, but the writing was not. I should admit, this is my first Kathy Reichs book, so perhaps this is just her style, but the writing felt both clinical and stilted. The clinical part fits the first-person narrator, so that was okay, though it lacked a lot of detail that I felt would have made the story stronger. It also felt sort of like a diary, but not in the good way. Again, it was the lack of detail that hurt the story. There was not enough flavor to it, particularly in the dialogue.

The stiltedness really pulled me out of the story. There were more than a dozen occasions where I had to re-read a sentence 3-4 times just to figure out what it was trying to say. Combining that with the overly contrived cliffhangers at the end of chapters, I felt like I was reading a rough draft. The book needs a lot of editing. The second half of the book in particular had a lot of typos, though these may have been artifacts of the e-book conversion process. I know that ARCs are not 100% complete, so I sincerely hope that another editor takes a fine-toothed comb to this book.

Now, to the story. While I liked the story in general, it felt a bit been-there-done-that. I also felt like the focus was a little off. The big reveals near the end, about the nature of the villains' plot, were so big that they really should have been the focus of the story from the beginning. Yes, I realize it is a mystery and we were building up to those reveals, but the reveals were too big to be tossed around in the final 20 pages. We needed to deal with those world-shattering ideas from the beginning, because they are far too big to tie up with a neat bow and move on with our lives.

When a hurricane tosses ashore a medical waste container. Inside are two decomposed bodies wrapped in plastic sheeting and bound with electrical wire. Temperance Brennan flashes back to an unsolved case she handled in Quebec years earlier.

Meanwhile, health authorities in South Carolina become increasingly alarmed as a human flesh-eating contagion spreads. So focused is Tempe on identifying the container victims that, initially, she doesn’t register how their murders and the pestilence may be related. But she does recognize one unsettling fact. Someone is protecting a dark secret—and willing to do anything to keep it hidden.

Kathy Reichs has given us an absorbing look at the sinister uses to which genetics can be put. For all the good that can come from genetics testing, there will always be a darker side waiting to be exploited by evil. Highly recommended.

Fantastic non-stop thriller plotting provides a story you won't want to put down. After a hurricane a container is found pushed ashore in Charleston, S.C. The container has two bodies inside, both nude wrapped in plastic sheeting tied with electrical wire. The scene give Temperance Brennan an eerie feeling she has seen this before. Tempe works for the coroner's office in Charlotte, N.C. and part time for the coroner's office in Quebec, Canada as a forensic anthropologist. She deals mostly with bones that are beyond normal identifying states and bones from antiquity. She is called to consult on the case in Charleston. The case reminds her of a case that she worked on in Canada fifteen years ago that shares some of the same characteristics, a case that remains a cold case with no resolution. The two cases set Tempe on a thrilling journey sourcing new clues on both cases but where do they lead and are they related.
This is a thrilling read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have read several other books by this author and each one is the next best one yet!!!

Tempe Brennan’s trip to the Isle of Palms is anything but a vacation. A storm has washed ashore a shipping container that contains the remains of two murder victims, and the method of their death and disposal is eerily similar to a case Tempe was on in Quebec. At the same time, a flesh eating bacteria spreads throughout South Carolina and it appears the murders may be linked with the outbreak. Reichs has revived her long running series with this entry, it evokes the excitement and vivid character development of her earlier books

This is a very of the moment murder mystery. COVID, mRNA vaccines, and medical ethics are all featured in this book. It’s your usual Temperance Brennan, brilliant, sarcastic, and thankfully willing to explain some of the more complicated aspects of this story in plain English. As always, enjoyed her banter with Ryan and really enjoyed Vislosky, a new character who I hope to see again in future books.

I didn’t feel quite satisfied with the ending, but I did enjoy the ride.

As always I thoroughly enjoy Tempe and Ryan as well as the peripheral characters which is why I gave it 4 stars. I didn’t care for the crime they were solving and clues were few and far between. Birdie always helps the story!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc in return for an honest review

This book kept me interested the entire time. Kathy Reichs has an interesting way of writing. I enjoyed how the main character (Tempe), also the narrator, would speak on quotes and then give her commentary on what she said or what she warms thinking. I thought it was an interesting way to develop her character and let us have insight into her personality. The book had lots of twists and kept me guessing. Next up on my reading list: the other 18 Temperance Brenan books.

I have read all of the previous books in this series, and I can honestly say I was glad when I reached the end of this one - it dragged on and on for me. I might have been all of the detailed information on genetics and CRISPR was just too much for me during this COVID pandemic.

The Bone Code is a stunning addition to the Temperance Brennan series. Reichs artfully revisits an unsolved cold case with new eyes as a similar case emerges following a hurricane. The pacing is fantastic.

Temperance Brennan is back with another perplexing case … or is it two cases? A medical waste container shows up near Charleston SC. Inside, are two decomposing bodies sans fingers and teeth. Tempe recalls a similar, 15-year-old cold case in Quebec, where a container with two bodies-- also missing digits and dentition -- showed up in the St Lawrence. Surely, a serial killer could not be operating across such time and distance. Then DNA evidence links bodies from the two events, leaving Tempe, Ryan, and Charleston PD Detective Vislosky more puzzled than ever.

Reichs’ previous book (A Conspiracy of Bones) concerned conspiracy theorists and the dark web. Her latest installment likewise involves issues of the day. We learn about the consumer DNA industry -- where both ancestry and health risks can be discovered from a saliva sample -- and the vaccine manufacturing process -- especially timely with the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines. And if that’s not enough, a new pathogen from dog/cat saliva is causing disease and division between pet owners and the larger Charleston community.

The action is fast-paced; the scientific mystery is engrossing; and along the way we catch up with the lives of the continuing characters. Another winner from Kathy Reichs.

Highly entertaining. Well researched. I loved this book. Read everything by Kathy Reichs. Interesting information included.