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BOOK INFO
Title: The Bone Code
Author: Kathy Reichs
Publisher: Scribner
Publish Date: July 6, 2021
Genre: Police Procedural
Series: Temperance Brennan #20
My Rating: 4/5
BOOK BLURB
On the way to hurricane-ravaged Isle of Palms, a barrier island off the South Carolina coast, Tempe receives a call from the Charleston coroner. The storm has tossed ashore a medical waste container. Inside are two decomposed bodies wrapped in plastic sheeting and bound with electrical wire. Tempe recognizes many of the details as identical to those of an unsolved case she handled in Quebec years earlier. With a growing sense of foreboding, she travels to Montreal to gather evidence.
Meanwhile, health authorities in South Carolina become increasingly alarmed as a human flesh-eating contagion spreads. So focused is Tempe on identifying the container victims that, initially, she doesn’t register how their murders and the pestilence may be related. But she does recognize one unsettling fact. Someone is protecting a dark secret—and willing to do anything to keep it hidden.
An absorbing look at the sinister uses to which genetics can be put, and featuring a cascade of ever-more-shocking revelations, The Bone Code is Temperance Brennan’s most astonishing case yet—one that gives new meaning to today’s headlines.

MY REVIEW
The Bone Code is the twentieth book in the Temperance Brennan series. Temperance is a forensic anthropologist who has worked on a variety of cases. While this could be read as a standalone novel, I recommend reading some of the earlier books first.
In The Bone Code, Temperance gets involved with a case in Charleston that reminds her of a cold case she worked years earlier in Quebec. Meanwhile, a virus outbreak in Charleston is causing panic. Temperance works to connect the two cases and uncover more than just a murderer.
This is a series that I’ve enjoyed over the years. There are a few books in this series that I haven’t read, but I plan to go back and read them soon. Temperance is intelligent and driven in her work. She makes for a strong and interesting protagonist.
The Bone Code is sure to be enjoyed by fans of this series. For readers unfamiliar with Temperance, I recommend checking out this series if you like crime fiction.
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
Great review Darinda. I have read and enjoyed the first 18, but not any of the novellas. This one sounds interesting and I like the inclusion of a virus. I need to catch up. Thanks for the reminder.
It’s a good series! Hope you enjoy this one too 😊