#73. Cross Bones

Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs
Eighth in the Temperance Brennan series


Pages: 351
Finished: Sept. 14, 2007
Reason for Reading: next in the series
First Published: 2005
Genre: forensics mystery
Rating: 2.5/5

First Sentence:

Following an Easter dinner of ham, peas, and creamed potatoes, Charles "Le Cowboy" Bellemare pinched a twenty from his sister, drove to a crack house in Verdun, and vanished.

Comments: This is most certainly the weakest of Kathy Reichs' books I've read. I really didn't care for this one much. The plot revolves around an ancient Biblical mystery and was very reminiscent of The Da Vinci Code. The murder that takes place at the beginning of the book was almost an afterthought. The first 200 pages dwelt on Biblical history and the religious political intrigue of some ancient bones of which fanatical Christians, fanatical Jews or fanatical Muslims all had their own reasons to either hide or make known the truth. Around page 200, we were returned to the original murder and the case picked up and became more of what I expected from a Kathy Reichs book but I must say the forensic aspect was kept to a bare minimal. I usually enjoy the tense suspense of Temperance Brennan novels but this one was seriously lacking in that department.