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BOOK INFO
Title: Cold, Cold Bones
Author: Kathy Reichs
Publisher: Scribner
Publish Date: July 5, 2022
Genre: Crime & Detective
Series: Temperance Brennan #21
My Rating: 4/5
BOOK BLURB
Winter has come to North Carolina and, with it, a drop in crime. Freed from a heavy work schedule, 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, 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 the subsequent killings uncovered, except that each mimics in some way a homicide that a younger Tempe had been called in to analyze. Who or what is targeting her, and why?
Helping Tempe search for answers is detective Erskine “Skinny” Slidell, retired but still volunteering with the CMPD cold case unit—and still displaying his gallows humor. Also pulled into the mystery: Andrew Ryan, Tempe’s Montreal-based beau, now working as a private detective.
Could this elaborately staged skein of mayhem be the prelude to a twist that is even more shocking? Tempe is at a loss to establish the motive for what is going on…and then her daughter disappears.

MY REVIEW
Cold, Cold Bones is the twenty-first book in the Temperance Brennan series. Tempe is a forensic anthropologist who consults with law enforcement on a variety of cases. In this book, someone seems to be targeting Tempe. The cases she is working on are similar to previous cases in her career.
In addition to the crime solving, Tempe’s adult daughter, Katy, has returned home. Tempe is excited to have her daughter back in town, but then Katy disappears.
Cold, Cold Bones is an enjoyable addition to the series. A compelling mystery about gruesome crimes. Recommended to fans of this series and medical thrillers.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Books in the Temperance Brennan series:
- Déjà Dead
- Death du Jour
- Deadly Decisions
- Fatal Voyage
- Grave Secrets
- Bare Bones
- Monday Mourning
- Cross Bones
- Break No Bones
- Bones to Ashes
- Devil Bones
- 206 Bones
- Spider Bones
- Flash and Bones
- Bones Are Forever
- Bones of the Lost
- Bones Never Lie
- Speaking in Bones
- A Conspiracy of Bones
- The Bone Code
- Cold, Cold Bones
- The Bone Hacker
- Fire and Bones