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About The Book

'I await the next Kathy Reichs’ thriller with the same anticipation I have for the new Lee Child or Patricia Cornwell' JAMES PATTERSON

NUMBER ONE NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author KATHY REICHS returns with her next edge-of-your seat thriller featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.

A storm has hit South Carolina, dredging up crimes of the past.

On the way to Isle of Palms, a barrier island off the South Carolina coast, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan receives a call from the Charleston coroner. During the storm, a medical waste container has washed up on the beach. Inside are two decomposed bodies wrapped in plastic sheeting and bound with electrical wire. Chillingly, Tempe recognizes many details as identical to those of an unsolved case she handled in Quebec fifteen years earlier. With a growing sense of foreboding, she flies to Montreal to gather evidence and convince her boss Pierre LaManch to reopen the cold case. She also seeks the advice—and comfort—of her longtime beau Andrew Ryan.

Meanwhile, a storm of a different type gathers force in South Carolina. The citizens of Charleston are struck by a bacterium that, at its worst, can eat human flesh. Thousands panic and test themselves for a rare genetic mutation that may have rendered them vulnerable.

Shockingly, Tempe eventually discovers that not only are the victims in both grisly murder cases related, but that the murders and the disease outbreak also have a common cause…​​

About The Author

Photograph © Marie-Reine Mattera

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 Twitter @KathyReichs, Instagram @KathyReichs, or Facebook @KathyReichsBooks. 

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia (April 14, 2021)
  • Length: 336 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781760858599

Raves and Reviews

“I await the next Kathy Reichs thriller with the same anticipation I have for the new Lee Child or Patricia Cornwell. The Bone Code over-achieves. Temperance Brennan uses all her skills as a forensic anthropologist to solve a murder mystery story that races across America at the speed of fright.”

– James Patterson

The Bone Code is a brilliant entry in a ground-breaking series and does Temperance Brennan proud. The story has all the elements we’ve come to expect—it’s smart, gripping, and builds to a heart-stopping crescendo. More than twenty years ago, these wonderful novels began paving the way for other writers, especially Canadians like me, to be noticed. I owe Kathy and Tempe a debt of gratitude, not just for helping to make my own writing life possible but for hours of white-knuckle reading.”

– Louise Penny, #1 New York Times bestselling author of All the Devils Are Here

"Kathy Reichs is expert at making science both scary and thrilling, and she's in top form in The Bone Code. The story moves at such a relentless pace I couldn't stop turning the pages!"

– Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of Choose Me

“Over the course of twenty books, Kathy Reichs and Tempe Brennan have thrilled readers with pacey, mazey tales grounded in real science, with plots springing from the author's prodigious knowledge and passion for truth and justice. We readers are truly grateful—and looking forward to the next twenty!”

– Ian Rankin, New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Rebus novels

Praise for A Conspiracy of Bones and Kathy Reichs:

“We relish [Reich’s] Temperance Brennan mysteries… [she] has always been strong on plot, and this one has plenty of twists.”
—New York Times Book Review

Reichs roars back with a Temperance Brennan mystery unlike any that have come before it….One of the book’s central themes is Brennan's lack of confidence in her own mind: could she be imagining connections between unrelated facts? The novel shows us a more vulnerable side of Brennan, and Reichs' writing style is subtly different, too, as though she were trying to make us feel ever so slightly off-kilter. A complete success.” —Booklist (Starred Review)

“Kathy Reichs pits the indomitable Temperance Brennan against straight-from-today’s-headlines terror to create a story that launches at maximum velocity and never lets up. Edgy. Eerie. Irresistible. Don’t miss this one.” —Sandra Brown, bestselling author of Outfox, Tailspin, and Seeing Red

“This is Kathy Reichs as you’ve never read her before. The story starts like a pistol shot and fires nonstop through over three hundred layered pages. The twists are meticulously planned and thrown like bamboozling curves on the edge of the plate. But you will see new layers to the brilliant Tempe Brennan that may surprise you. Read this book. It was created by a master of the genre who knocks it out of the park.” —David Baldacci, bestselling author of One Good Deed and Redemption

“Nobody writes a more imaginative thriller than Kathy Reichs or crafts a better sentence. Her latest forensic investigation, A Conspiracy of Bones, rivets with its non-stop pursuit of some of the vilest villains ever.” —Clive Cussler, bestselling author of Night Probe and Sahara

“Sinister and chilling. In Tempe Brennan’s riveting return to the investigative trail, she suddenly finds herself caught in a tangled web. Who can she trust? Maybe not even herself. Bones is back and better than ever.” —Lisa Gardner, bestselling author of Never Tell, Look for Me, and Right Behind You

“It’s a pleasure to see Temperance returning to what she does best, peeling back the layers and using her forensic brilliance to expose a shocking cover-up… A Conspiracy of Bones offers page-turning proof that Kathy Reichs won’t be giving up her forensic-anthropologist-in-distress throne anytime soon.” —David Morrell, bestselling author of Murder As a Fine Art

“Tempe Brennan is back, dealing with health issues, career setbacks, and the nagging—and driving—fear of inadequacy that is the flipside of her talent. Reichs's fast-paced, tightly-constructed, and very contemporary story dives underground here, both literally and virtually, as she follows the thinnest of threads deeper and deeper into a shocking conspiracy. You will find it hard to put down.” —Mark Bowden, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Stone and Black Hawk Down

“No face, no hands, and a ton of breathtaking questions. I dare you to figure out all the red herrings. So utterly good! This is Kathy Reichs doing what she does best: sorting through the bones until the shocking end.” —Brad Meltzer, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Escape Artist

A Conspiracy of Bones shows off Kathy Reichs’ dazzling new level of plotting mastery. A thrilling read from one of my favorite writers.” —Karin Slaughter, #1 internationally bestselling author of The Lost Widow, Pieces of Her, and Cop Town

“One of the absolute best thrillers of the year! Both Temperance Brennan and Kathy Reichs are at the top of their games in this brilliant rollercoaster of a tale. I can’t recall when this many twists have been so masterfully woven into a novel. But, of course, it’s not all about plot. The characters, too—good, bad and in between—come breathtakingly alive with heart-gripping effect. A great series has just gotten greater.” —Jeffery Deaver, #1 internationally bestseller author of The Bone Collector and The Never Game

“Don't miss this one! The corpse is ghastly. The investigation is intense. So many pulse-pounding twists and surprises—it kept me guessing till the end!” —R.L. Stine, bestselling author of Goosebumps and Fear Street

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More books from this author: Kathy Reichs

More books in this series: A Temperance Brennan Novel