Although I’ve not picked up a Temperance Brennan mystery in five years (thanks Goodreads for keeping track), I have recently rewatched the TV show Bones. When a friend mentioned that Kathy Reichs was a Canadian author and that she enjoyed the books, I decided to try another Temperance Brennan mystery. I may have skipped a bit too far down the series, but this was still an interesting one.
When A Conspiracy of Bones starts, Brennan is out of luck. Her new boss, Heavner, hates her because they’ve clashed over a matter of principles and Brennan is not allowed anywhere near a case. But when someone messages her pictures of a faceless man, Brennan cannot help but start to investigate. She soon discovers a connection with an old missing children’s case, but can she find the evidence that explains what happens?
So it took some time to get used to this book, probably because I’ve got the TV show stuck in my head and the characters in the book are quite different (actually, the only character that’s in both TV and book is Brennan). But the mystery was very intriguing and I found myself quickly hooked as Brennan tries to solve a case without actually seeing the body or having access to her usual equipment.
I thought it was interesting how Brennan was tracking down leads with the help of her allies and family, and although I wish there was a bit more lab-related things here – my favourite sections were probably the parts where Brennan has a breakthrough based on science – Brennan’s dogged pursuit of the truth was something that I enjoyed seeing. It was also interesting to see how Brennan’s health condition impacted her work; I thought it lent a believably frantic air to the investigation, and explained some of the ‘paranoia’ she had (something that was mirrored by the fact that a suspect peddles fake news and stokes fears).
Overall, I enjoyed this! It wasn’t quite what I expected, since I expected Brennan to be working in a lab, and to be honest, had a lot of images from the show on my mind, but now that I’m used to the book, I’m going to read another one of these mysteries. I’ve already placed a hold on the third book, so hopefully I get to that soon!
hopefully now that you’re into the swing of the books again you can enjoy the next one more!
Yes, I hope so too!
I’m glad you liked it! 😁 I binged the TV series back when I was doing my Masters, and loved it – but, have never picked up the books before. I’m surprised that there isn’t a lot of character overlap. Do you know if any of the plots are the same?
I haven’t found any similar plots so far!! It feels really different too! (But still fun)
Way overdone!! An older, physically challenged Tempe is acting, cavorting around as though she’s a 20something+ athlete in her prime. No day-to-day concerns whatsoever, yet her job, reputation, no real concerns about a deployed military daughter, a mother on chemo who’s unrealistically wealthy & a senior computer whiz etc; are just beyond the pale. As is Tempe being a *hottie* at her age & even her sanity! are on the line. It’s *overkill* in the failure to make Tempe seem human, relatable. Looking for the RELATABILITY! factor in books like this. Don’t want to emulate James Patterson here. He’s *overkill* in the male department. The books are way too much. Too much stuff, stimuli, specific techno/IT/medical informational stuff, whatever! to be even REMOTELY relatable. Tone Temp down, make her more accessible, human!! Way too much testosterone going on here for a supposedly older, female lead. By the way, the dates mentioned don’t add up. For any of the characters.
Read 20 Kathy Reich books. Hated a few! Like reading encyclopedia then looking up another subject and reading encyclopedia again. Repeat repeat repeat not again