Wow, this book was so fantastic! I just loved spending more time with Tempe, it's been a while, and yeah, she's changed since the last book, what with the diagnose of a brain aneurysm and all. Oh, and that her old boss in the Charlotte morgue, died and his replacement has a bit of a feud with Tempe. One that Tempe was in the right of, but wasn't in the position of power here. Yeah, not fun!

There's a lot going on in this book. The mystery into who the dead guy was and why. And how some missing child investigations got tied in. But also things like Tempe wondering if she was hallucinating. Yeah, this mystery was different, and where it ended, yeah, that was pretty unexpected! So fantastic to read!

Of course, we learn some new science stuff, which is always a treat in this series! This time it's about the imprints left on paper from writing on it, you know the old rub pencil on a sheet and see what was on the page above kind of thing. But more high tech.

The ending was a bit different from the others, in that the big action scene, which usually is the climax of the book, well, there were still a few more chapters and it's a bit of a slower ending then the other books. It was a bit unsettling, to tell the truth, and different, so yeah, I enjoyed it!

This book was just incredible, and I would love more time with these characters!

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read "A Conspiracy of Bones' by Kathy Reichs in return for a fair and honest review.

Temperance Brennan is not in a very good place at the outset of this book - recently diagnosed with an aneurysm; her former colleague and mentor, Larabee, is deceased; Ryan is out of the country; Mama is planning a wedding and/or feuding with her fiance; and the current ME (nicknamed Dr. Morgue) detests her ever since Brennan called her out on her grandstanding.

Then, someone sends her images of a recently deceased 'man without a face' (or hands, for that matter) and gets her involved in a rollercoaster of a case, involving paranoid Russians, right-wing nutcase bloggers, missing children and 'preppers'. Along the way, she teams up with her old friend Slidell who's now a PI, and manages to get herself into all kinds of scrapes - including an arson attack at her home and a possible 'lost weekend' caused by doctored sun tea. Oh, and her ex-husband has some news for her that doesn't lighten her mood!

I have been reading the Temperance Brennan (inspiration for the TV series 'Bones') since the very first book was published, so I can truthfully say that this is not one of the best - but it's still very good. I prefer when Brennan is in top form, and not wondering from day to day if her health issues are affecting her work.
I have to say that the ending of the book is true vindication for Dr. Brennan.

All in all, I would still recommend this book (caveat, if you have not read the others, you might end up very confused).

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

2.5* rounded up.

I have read many of these over the years, and in lots of ways this was very familiar: Tempe acts with utter disregard for her personal safety; chapters end with dramatic hooks (e.g. "Life was about to go from bad to pure hell."); there are several sections where a character recites what is obviously the fruits of the author's research to another in a big info dump.

This one was a little different though: Tempe does no work in Quebec, and, having been frozen out by her boss in Charlotte, does no work at all there either for the whole of the period of the book, despite fretting about money, so we never get to see her excel at her job. Instead she is entirely free to go around putting her life in danger as previously discussed, investigating a case that she thinks her boss should have asked her to consult on.

After a slightly mystifying opening chapter, which didn't really grab me and make me want to keep reading, things picked up and the plot did carry me along until the final third, where Tempe has some sort of out of body experience, which is never fully explained. After that the bad guys are identified, but then the book drags on for a few chapters, in what is probably a very realistic depiction of what police work is like, but which destroyed all the momentum of the story and made me impatient for it to end.

Not enough Montreal and not enough Ryan. Disappointing.