Speaking in Bones: A Novel
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan has a tough decision to make. Andrew Ryan, the cop who's occasionally her crime-solving partner, and who was once her lover, has come back into her life and, out of the blue, proposed marriage. Will she, or won't she? Well, she's not sure, and it's hard to concentrate on that potentially life-altering decision when her new case, which is sparked by a visit from an amateur sleuth claiming she's identified some remains that have been in Brennan's lab for a few years, turns unexpectedly complicated. Reichs' latest Brennan novel takes Tempe into the world of religious cults, a realm that other mystery writers have explored to various levels of success. Reichs appears to have done quite a bit of homework; she mostly avoids cliché and stereotyping, building her characters carefully, making sure they feel like real people (even the zealots). Another fine entry in this long-running series. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Reichs will be on the book-convention circuit through the fall, concluding with a guest-of-honor appearance at Bouchercon in Raleigh in October.--Pitt, David Copyright 2015 Booklist

Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan doesn't think very highly of Hazel Strike and her fellow "websleuths," amateurs who gather online to try and solve crimes and locate missing persons, in bestseller Reichs's solid 18th novel featuring Brennan (after 2014's Bones Never Lie). Hazel is convinced that bones in Brennan's Mecklenburg County, N.C., lab belong to 18-year-old Cora Teague, who disappeared more than three years earlier. Trouble is, no one officially reported Cora missing. Cora's parents, who belong to a fringe Pentecostal church, claim Cora left town with a boy. Despite little evidence to support Hazel's theory, Brennan investigates Cora's family, as well as the boy Cora supposedly left town with, and uncovers some shocking secrets. With Brennan's beau, Quebec homicide detective Andrew Ryan, in Canada, local deputy Zeb Ramsey lends a hand in the increasingly bizarre-and dangerous-investigation. Brennan's on-again/off-again relationship with Ryan brings some welcome romantic interest to this multilayered series. Agent: Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, William Morris Endeavor. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Hazel "Lucky" Strike, an abrasive amateur sleuth who mines the Internet for unsolved missing persons cases, confronts forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan with a tape recording of a terrorized Cora Teague, who's been missing for three years and whose bones sit in Brennan's lab. Initially doubtful of Hazel's veracity, Brennan heads into the mountains of North Carolina where unexplained ghost lights convey meaning for a satanic cult rumored to perform ritual sacrifice. Father G, a defrocked Roman Catholic priest and head of the Jesus Lord Holiness cult, has been leading nocturnal exorcisms for people suffering from multiple personality disorder and schizophrenia. As Brennan struggles to separate fact from hearsay as well as saints from sinners, she literally digs up the truth-particularly when the cult strikes "Lucky" dead. Verdict As her many avid readers will appreciate, Reichs keeps the suspense taut as she weaves various story lines in her 18th series title into an exciting thriller. [See Prepub Alert, 4/15/15; a July LibraryReads pick.]-Jerry P. Miller, Cambridge, MA © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan has a tough decision to make. Andrew Ryan, the cop who's occasionally her crime-solving partner, and who was once her lover, has come back into her life and, out of the blue, proposed marriage. Will she, or won't she? Well, she's not sure, and it's hard to concentrate on that potentially life-altering decision when her new case, which is sparked by a visit from an amateur sleuth claiming she's identified some remains that have been in Brennan's lab for a few years, turns unexpectedly complicated. Reichs' latest Brennan novel takes Tempe into the world of religious cults, a realm that other mystery writers have explored to various levels of success. Reichs appears to have done quite a bit of homework; she mostly avoids cliché and stereotyping, building her characters carefully, making sure they feel like real people (even the zealots). Another fine entry in this long-running series.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Reichs will be on the book-convention circuit through the fall, concluding with a guest-of-honor appearance at Bouchercon in Raleigh in October. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Here's a surprise for formidable forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan: an amateur detective named Hazel "Lucky" Strike is convinced that she knows the identity of some cold-case remains in Tempe's laboratory, having found a tape recorder near the spot where the remains were discovered. And Tempe is starting to believe her. Eighteenth in the series.

Hazel "Lucky" Strike, an abrasive amateur sleuth who mines the Internet for unsolved missing persons cases, confronts forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan with a tape recording of a terrorized Cora Teague, who's been missing for three years and whose bones sit in Brennan's lab. Initially doubtful of Hazel's veracity, Brennan heads into the mountains of North Carolina where unexplained ghost lights convey meaning for a satanic cult rumored to perform ritual sacrifice. Father G, a defrocked Roman Catholic priest and head of the Jesus Lord Holiness cult, has been leading nocturnal exorcisms for people suffering from multiple personality disorder and schizophrenia. As Brennan struggles to separate fact from hearsay as well as saints from sinners, she literally digs up the truth—particularly when the cult strikes "Lucky" dead. Verdict As her many avid readers will appreciate, Reichs keeps the suspense taut as she weaves various story lines in her 18th series title into an exciting thriller. [See Prepub Alert, 4/15/15; a July LibraryReads pick.]—Jerry P. Miller, Cambridge, MA (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan doesn't think very highly of Hazel Strike and her fellow "websleuths," amateurs who gather online to try and solve crimes and locate missing persons, in bestseller Reichs's solid 18th novel featuring Brennan (after 2014's Bones Never Lie). Hazel is convinced that bones in Brennan's Mecklenburg County, N.C., lab belong to 18-year-old Cora Teague, who disappeared more than three years earlier. Trouble is, no one officially reported Cora missing. Cora's parents, who belong to a fringe Pentecostal church, claim Cora left town with a boy. Despite little evidence to support Hazel's theory, Brennan investigates Cora's family, as well as the boy Cora supposedly left town with, and uncovers some shocking secrets. With Brennan's beau, Quebec homicide detective Andrew Ryan, in Canada, local deputy Zeb Ramsey lends a hand in the increasingly bizarre—and dangerous—investigation. Brennan's on-again/off-again relationship with Ryan brings some welcome romantic interest to this multilayered series. Agent: Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, William Morris Endeavor. (July)