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The literary version of Temperance Brennan returns in the tenth outing, this time looking into the disappearances and suspicious deaths of several teenage girls, as well as dealing with issues from her childhood and, of course, her tangled web of romantic relationships. BONES TO ASHES grips from the beginning, recreating the atmosphere of warm summers and relationships between siblings, and providing more depth to Tempe’s sister Harry and Tempe’s own childhood. However, the almost idyllic descriptions of the summer holidays contained a sinister undertone that drew me immediately into the novel, and the mystery of her friend Evangeline’s disappearance over four decades ago. Rather than simply focusing on one case, Tempe’s return to work brings about several cases, including the body of a young teenage girl – Andrew Ryan’s case – and a set of bones that a coroner has already deemed ancient and in no need of being investigated, thus piquing Tempe’s interest automatically. The reintroduction of Ryan portrays his relationship with Tempe as cold, yet with tension boiling underneath, the ramifications of Tempe’s unclear feelings about her ex-husband Pete still apparent. The issues between Tempe and Ryan simmer throughout the novel and provide an excellent sub-plot away from the murders and issues of paedophilia and leprosy. Tempe’s frustration with Ryan is almost palpable, and Reichs seems to have gone up a level in terms of dealing with Tempe’s emotional issues without drowning the reading in them. Similarly with the scientific description – the detail is still there, but at a lesser pace, with more focus being on the plot developing through wading through photographs and Tempe’s skills of recognition through bones structure. Harry also becomes a more likeable character, as well as providing the book’s humour. We see a less self-centred side to her, and the bond between the sisters becomes much more pronounced, a theme that the book opens and ends with. Tempe, Harry, Ryan and Hippo, a cold case cop, are arguably the only fully developed characters in the books. The two sisters from Tempe and Harry’s childhood holidays are met through memories; the younger of the two, Obeline, lacks a third dimension when we meet her as an adult. As for Evangeline, the friend Tempe is driven to search for, well, the whole of the story really centres on whether she is alive or dead. On the whole, I enjoyed this much more than recent Reichs instalments. The character of Tempe has improved, the dynamics in her relationship with Ryan become more interesting, and her past intertwines nicely with the present. There are faults with the case – far too many cushy coincidences for one – but these are easy to overlook, given the easy writing style and the sympathetic character that Temperance has become.
Reviewed by Sarah Makin, August 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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