Reviewed by Rod McLary
Kathy Reichs has now written twenty-three novels featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Aficionados of the Brennan novels would be very familiar with Temperance, her daughter Katy and her long-standing lover Andrew Ryan Lieutentant-détective, Section de Crimes contra la Personne, Súreté du Québec. Retraité [or retired]. It is a pleasure to again immerse oneself in the intricacies of Tempe’s investigations which are enhanced by the forensic details shared by Tempe with the reader.
In Fire and Bones, Tempe is called to Washington DC to examine the victims of an arson attack which took place in Foggy Bottom – an area of Washington with a very colourful and infamous history immortalised by the operation of the Foggy Bottom Gang in the early- to mid-twentieth century. The Gang comprised three brothers – Leo, Emmitt and Charles Warring – who were heavily involved in bootleg liquor, numbers rackets and gangland shootings. While this information may at first glance appear to be interesting but not relevant, it is far from that. The exploits of the Gang reverberate down the years and result in the murder of the son of one of the brothers.
The site of the arson attack is an illegal short-term accommodation building linked to the Gang and four people are killed. Then a fifth victim is found – but this person was not killed by the fire but by a violent attack many years before. Tempe’s curiosity is piqued – why was the woman killed and her body stuffed into a burlap bag? And even more importantly for Tempe – who was she?
But it is not only Tempe who is curious, a new character is introduced – Ivy Doyle an investigative tele journalist who has a nose for a good story. And Ivy may possibly become ‘the anchor character in a future series’. Together, Tempe and Ivy make a formidable team each coming from a different perspective but with one common mind for an outcome.
Along the way, Tempe runs up against resistant police officers – male of course – who are not inclined to have their investigations directed by a forensic anthropologist, and a female one at that. However, Tempe has investigative skills too and their initial resistance can’t be sustained against Tempe’s insights.
There is as well the personal stories underneath the investigations. Tempe and Ryan were supposed to have a short holiday which is put aside when Tempe is invited to join the investigation into the arson deaths; and Ivy’s partner turns out to be less than he appeared to be at first meeting. Only one of these complications is resolved and we can guess which one it is.
There are twists and turns throughout the novel and more than one moment in which Tempe’s life is under threat. All in all, it is a fine crime novel and, while we know what to expect from a Kathy Reichs story, there is enough fresh and exciting material for it to be a pleasure to read.
Recommended to all lovers of crime fiction.
Fire and Bones
[2024]
by Kathy Reichs
Simon and Schuster
ISBN 978 176142 562 2
$34.99; 272pp