Bones Never Lie

Bones Never Lie is the 17th in the Temperance Brennan series. The television series “Bones” is based upon this series of books (with some VERY significant differences)> I have read all of the books in the series about a forensic anthropologist who splits her time between North Carolina and Montreal, Canada.

In this book, girls are going missing and turning up dead…..and there’s a connection to one of Tempe’s earlier cases. She is asked by the police in North Carolina to find her colleague from Canada, Detective Andrew Ryan, who has gone into hiding since his daughter died of a heroin overdose. Withe the help of her mother, who makes an extended appearance in this books, she tracks Ryan down and tried to convince him to come back to work.

Once back in North Carolina, they link the disappeared girls to a missing girl in Vermont. The pieces of the story come together slowly. But the plotting is fast-paced. I do not want to reveal much more of the plot, but I did enjoy this book. I love mystery series and I especially love mystery series in which the characters are well-developed. Kathy Reichs does a good job of writing three-dimensional characters, all with strengths and weaknesses and human foibles that she describes richly.

The book is not being published until September 14, 2014. I won an advanced reader’s copy from Goodreads and was not paid any compensation for my review. The fact that the book was free does not reflect in any way my opinion of it. If you are a long-time reader or a first-time reader of this series, you will not be disappointed.

The Night Searchers

When I was 18 or 19, I discovered Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone P.I. series. I wanted to read about a woman detective. At the time, Sue Grafton was getting really popular and I wanted to read more. The Night Searchers is Ms. Muller’s 31st Sharon McCone novel and to me, it’s as good as anything she’s ever written.

Sharon McCone is a San Francisco private investigator who has her own firm with several employees. Over the years, she has grown her business and married a man who is truly her soul mate. In this current book, she is approached by a couple who state that the wife has witnessed a “satanic sacrifice” of a baby in a vacant lot near their home. At the same time, her husband, Hy, who runs a security firm, has a client who is kidnapped and a ransom demand is made. The two seemingly separate cases come together in a surprising way. I thought I had this figured out, but I really didn’t.

What I loved about this book – and what I love about all her books – is Ms. Muller’s ability to set a scene. You feel through her descriptions, you are in San Francisco. Her descriptions are not flowery, but she has an amazing ability to convey a scene with an economy of words. The plotting is tight and her writing is solid. This book is a mystery in the truest sense of the word. You are compelled to turn the page to see what happens next.

If you like mysteries, this is a good series to read. You do not have to start from the beginning, but it is really amazing to see the evolution of Sharon McCone over the years. I had the opportunity to meet Ms. Muller and hear her speak about the McCone series and it was one of the best experiences I have had in a long time. I recommend this book and the entire series.