Cold, Cold Bones

By Kathy Reichs

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with her twenty-first taut novel of suspense featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan who, after receiving a box with a human eyeball in it, uncovers a series of ever more grisly killings eerily reenacting the most shocking of her prior cases.

Winter has come to North Carolina and, with it, a drop in crime. For a while, temporarily idle forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan is content to dote on her daughter Katy, finally returned to civilian life from the army. But when mother and daughter meet at Tempe’s place one night for dinner, they find a box on the back porch. Inside: a very fresh human eyeball.

GPS coordinates etched into the eyeball lead to a Benedictine Monastery where an equally macabre discovery awaits. Soon after, Tempe examines a mummified corpse in a state park, and her anxiety deepens.

There seems to be no pattern to these random killings, except that each mimics in some way a killing that a younger Tempe witnessed, analyzed, or barely escaped.

Who or what is targeting her, and why?

Helping Tempe discover the answers is Detective Erskine “Skinny” Slidell, retired but still volunteering with the CMPD cold case unit—and still displaying his gallows humor. But as the two infiltrate a bizarre survivalist’s lair, even Skinny’s mood darkens.

And then Tempe’s daughter Katy disappears.

At its core, Cold, Cold Bones is a novel of revenge and why revisiting the past may be the only way to rescue the present.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Release date: Jul 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9781982198671

Kathy Reichs

Kathy Reichs’s first novel Déjà Dead, published in 1997, won the Ellis Award for Best First Novel and was an international bestseller. Fire and Bones is Reichs’s twenty-third novel featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Reichs was also a producer of Fox Television’s longest running scripted drama, Bones, which was based on her work and her novels. One of very few forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, Reichs divides her time between Charlotte, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina. Visit her at KathyReichs.com or follow her on X @KathyReichs, Instagram @KathyReichs, or Facebook @KathyReichsBooks. 

Reviews for Cold, Cold Bones

[maydacat_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A series of murders send Tempe and the detectives working the crimes back to study some cases that Tempe had worked on. They appear to copycat crimes, but why and who are the big questions. When her daughter, newly returned from military service, appears to be suffering from PTSD and who then can’t be found, the situation takes on a new and desperate motive for Tempe to figure out exactly what is going on. It’s an action-packed mystery, even if the solution seems to be a little contrived and a bit weak.

[juju2cat · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a classic Tempe novel. There's plenty of action and a great who-dun-it atmosphere. Then why am I not happy? It isn't just this series; there are series I have loved for years that now leave me wanting. Perhaps that's why I gravitate to authors like Tana French where good people are left scarred by real life and the ennui doesn't exist.Don't get me wrong, it's a great book. You will love it.

[seasidereader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Review contains spoilers.I continue to enjoy the series and Reichs' snappy dialog. The audio narrator, Linda Emond, is excellent. I love that Skinny is back, and want more of Ryan.I do not love that increasingly Tempe's cases seem to be more about her than the victims.And could she please chill with the neurons firing and the id sending messages?In this installment, the identity of the perpetrator was foreshadowed pretty early on.

[deaconbernie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

If she wasn't a well-established writer, I would mark this book off as a waste of time. Her command of profanity is distressingly admirable. On the other hand, the story is unique and well-told. It is certainly a much different Temperance Brenne than the one portrayed by Emily Deschanel. I shall read Reichs again to see if this volume is typical or an aberration.

[virginia51-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This story starts fast and just keeps going. I love Temperance Brennan stories. There are a lot of twists and turns. I enjoyed learning about how Katy is doing now that she is out of the army. This book was hard to put down. I received a copy of this book from Scribner for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

[romonko · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is book number 21 in the Temperance Brennan series. I have been reading every single one. The series is still viable as far as I'm concerned, but the books are not quite as good as the earlier ones in the series. This one was marginally better than the last, and I enjoyed it quite a lot to about halfway through, but then it started to wear on me. I found the tension had dropped off, and I don't particularly like the "shotgun" form of conversation with truncated and one-word sentences. Tempe is a scientist, not a hard-nosed detective or perp. The abrupt form of communication she assumes throughout the book doesn't quite ring true. The books are always told in the first-person, so the shotgun repartee just didn't seem to fit somehow. This story begins with an eyeball showing up on Tempe's back step. Things go from puzzling, to jarring to downright scary and then to depraved. As usual Tempe finds herself in a pack of trouble and dealing with a particularly insane and vicious suspect, and she puts herself and her loved ones in grave danger. The book is not terrible, and, in fact, in parts it is quite gripping and kept me reading. I will continue to read this series.

[lostinalibrary · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When a box containing a human eyeball is left on Temperance Brennan’s porch, she is quickly thrust into a series of crimes that copy some of her most infamous cases. When her daughter , Kathy goes missing, Brennan must risk everything to solve the case even if it means putting herself in the direct path of danger.Cold Cold Bones is the 21st entry in the Temperance Brennan series by forensics anthropologist Kathy Reichs and it’s just as compelling, as intelligent, as unputdownable as the rest of the series. It’s the kind of book that keeps the reader glued to the page so I recommend startng it when you have plenty of time or find yourself reading into the wee small hours unable to sleep until you know what happens next. I’d like to thank Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

[jetangen4571 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

snark-fest, South-Carolina, law-enforcement, family-dynamics, family-drama, forensics, anthropologist, friendship, murder, murder-investigation, dismemberment, relationships, wry-humor, learning-opportunity, combat-veteran, suspense, thriller, due-diligence, crime-fiction*****This series always seems to have the right mix of awful (gory details) and snarky humor. At least I think so, but then, I am in the paramedical field. The characters seem all too real to me, and I always look forward to learning something new (or more depth to something that I already think I know). One of those things, this time, was the aftermath of a soldier (Temperance's daughter) with the experiences of two tours in Afghanistan. The books are always riveting (fascinating) and this continues to be true despite the fact that it is #21 in series!This is not an unbiased review because I have adored reading Ms Reichs' books since book one.I requested and received a free temporary e-book copy from Scribner via NetGalley. Thank you!