Mystery and intrigue…murder…this book was sent to me by Netgalley for review…this author weaves an ingenious tale that is difficult to put down…an eyeball..really? Who would have thought? I do not know how she comes up with these plot ideas , but she keeps writing bestsellers. The characters hers are likable but some not so much…after all, there are bad people…in murder mysteries…enjpy

This is the first book I have read by Kathy Reichs, and I enjoyed it. I liked the main characters and the way they interacted. Tempe and Stinky have a sibling like relationship, where they watch out of for each other, but have no problem threatening the other to do what they want them to do. The mystery of "whodunit" was good, (I confess, I figured it out ahead of time), but I enjoyed "listening" to the Tempe, Stinky, and Ryan work out who and the why. I highly recommend if you like mysteries and crime. I will be sure to pick up more of her books in the future.

Another enjoyable story from Kathy Reichs. I’ve been a fan of this author and her books since the first one and they only keep getting better. I highly recommend cold, cold bones for anyone who enjoys a good mystery. Be prepared for a few hours of reading because once you start this story you won’t want to put it down.

As a huge fan of Kathy Reichs’ novels I loved this one. I have been enjoying her books for many years, and what I enjoy about each of her books, including Cold, Cold Bones, is the way her writing transports you into the story, and with bated breath turning each page wanting more. I stayed up late a couple of nights in a row reading to find out who, what, why. There are the interesting characters from other of her books, and this one it is Erskine “Skinny” Slidell that provides humorous dialogue between Tempe and him, also her boyfriend Andrew Ryan who is dragged into the case, her daughter Katy who disappears. I do not want to give anything away and recommend picking up this book as I know you will enjoy it.

I was provided an ARC by NetGalley and provide this honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4585619085
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/3283186359

snark-fest, South-Carolina, law-enforcement, family-dynamics, family-drama, forensics, anthropologist, friendship, murder, murder-investigation, dismemberment, relationships, wry-humor, learning-opportunity, combat-veteran, suspense, thriller, due-diligence, crime-fiction*****

This series always seems to have the right mix of awful (gory details) and snarky humor. At least I think so, but then, I am in the paramedical field. The characters seem all too real to me, and I always look forward to learning something new (or more depth to something that I already think I know). One of those things, this time, was the aftermath of a soldier (Temperance's daughter) with the experiences of two tours in Afghanistan. The books are always riveting (fascinating) and this continues to be true despite the fact that it is #21 in series!
This is not an unbiased review because I have adored reading Ms Reichs' books since book one.
I requested and received a free temporary e-book copy from Scribner via NetGalley. Thank you!

I long loved her writing and this one was good . She has a way of crafting plot and characters that always lead to a cracking good story.
Thanks for letting me review this book to Netgalley and the publisher

I received an ARC through "NetGalley" and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

It has been awhile since I have read anything by this author and I can tell you that she still writes as well as before and by not reading her, I have missed a great deal.

This story begins with Tempe helping her daughter Katy move into her new home. After unpacking awhile, Tempe has Katy come over to her home and cleanup and eat. When they arrive, Katy discovers a box had been left and when Tempe opens it, it starts a whole new chain of events. The box contains a human eyeball. After examing the eyeball, they discover that someone has written a set of GPS coordinates for a location. The next day, Tempe and Skinny, a retired detective who works with her boyfriend Ryan as P.I.'s and who works as a cop on cold cases. When they arrive at that location, they discover a human head and call in the crime squad to search for clues.

This begins a recurring theme when Tempe discovers that thes findings are a copycat of cases she had earlier in her career. Things start getting closer to home when she finds an ex-boyfriend killed in a manner where the case looked like suicide and she proved it was murder. This scene was identical to what she had seen then. Another incident happened when she was called and went to a location where she witnessed a hit&run. Here once she had the crime team in, nothing was discovered. The last incident finally brought everything to a head when a little girl was kidnapped and items were discovered that were also found in a similar case.

While this was happening, Tempe's daughter went missing and had not been seen for several days. Katy had started working as a volunteer at a homeless shelter. She hadn't been seen there either. When Katy was finally all the pieces of the puzzel fell into place and Katy was rescued.

To learn who was responsible for the copycat kiliings, why they were done, what was discovered once the little girl was found and how Katy's daughter was rescued then you need to read this book. The clues are there, but it is only at the end where the culpret is revealed.

This was my first time reading a book in this long running series and it was an interesting perspective on a typical “detective” story. While I think I could have done with a little more background by reading the previous books, I didn’t find it hard to follow reading out of order. Tempe is a forensic anthropologist, and I really liked this angle to the story. There are a ton of plot points and lots going on which pushed the story ahead. It’s a bit chaotic and frenzied but made it a quick read! I do think the ending overall was quite predictable but it was still enjoyable!

the latest in the Temperance Brennen series that inspired the TV Show "Bones", this is the 21st book in the series. There is a LOT of explanation and backstory given, so if you haven't read any of her other books, you'll be able to follow the story pretty easily- but if you have read any of those earlier books, you might find the info dumps to be a bit tedious. The story was interesting and Temperance's life is, as always, exciting to the point of making *me* feel exhausted. That being said, it's a good murder mystery (though the mystery is pretty light - I figured out the "bad guy" reasonably early on, though that didn't dim my enjoyment of the story) and a fascinating glimpse inside the world of forensic anthropology, as are all of Kathy's books.

Plenty of action and mystery surround this story. When a box is delivered to Brennan containing a human eyeball she is shocked to find GPS coordinates on it. Following the coordinates they discover more to the mystery. This is the first in a series of grisly murders that all tie to Brennan's past. Very interesting, lots of suspense and forensic information.

This is my first time reading a Temperance Brennan book and, while I enjoyed it, I think I might have enjoyed it more if I had read some of her earlier books first.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

You can always rely on Kathy Reichs for a good read. I don't think there is a bad or mediocre one in the 21 she's written. (I think it's 21).

This is her usual great characters, great story. Highly recommend. She just never let's you down.

I wish to thank NetGalley and Scribner Publishing. Simon and Schuster Inc. for allowing me to read an advanced copy. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is the first book by Kathy Reichs that I have read and I understand that she has written 21 novels. I found this was not a book that I wanted to read quickly cover to cover. I did finish the book. I loved the beginning and got really involved in the story but as I continued to read about all the different murders that Tempe was working on it became repetitious. Little by little each murder was revealed to be copycats of her earlier cases. I got that but over and over in the book the reader was taken down the same descriptive path of each murder. Also there were way too many acronyms throughout the book that I found to be distracting. The story could have been told without as much of the vulgar language. That did not add to the story. When Tempe daughter goes missing I got really involved with where is she? I really liked the book but did not love it.

Since it’s been a while since I’ve read one of these, my first impression was that it seemed different. The crimes she was investigating hit really close to home for her. The suspense in this book was also more than I remembered. I felt that I met many new characters that added to the book.Bones encounters some cases that seem startlingly similar to previous cases. Once I got into this book it was hard to put down

Cold, Cold Bones #21 in the Tempe Brennan series

Tempe has her hands full with first an eye ball left in a box the front steps of her home! With all the normal twists and turns that her readers are used to, the story line progress with quite a bit of action! The bodies soon start to add up, and as Tempe begins to notice a pattern, all the cases have something in common! They are all past cases that she had some part in, but she's trying to figure out what it all means. Who had access to the information on all these different cases? How did all these cases link together? who was doing all of this?

Tempe's daughter, Katy is back from the military after serving many years, and is giving time to a local shelter helping those in need, when she completely disappears. Tempe has left message after message, gone by her home, and looked every where she can think of, with no luck finding Katy. What has happened to her daughter, is she safe, has something happened to her?

I've always enjoyed the series by Kathy Reichs, and though the basic story was fast paced, interesting characters, and well written, I admit to be put off by the repeated use of cuss words, that added nothing to the story line. I give it 4 stars, though the story line was good. The characters were engaging.

I do want to thank Net Galley and the Publisher Scribner for letting me read the ARC in return for an honest review.

Name of Book: Cold Cold Bones
Series: Temperance Brennan
Author: Kathy Reichs
Publisher: Scribner
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: July 5, 2022
My Rating: 3.3 Stars!

This is Doctor Temperance Brennan #21
I have not all the other twenty in this series but read many and I like Temp.
In Book # 20 "The Bone Code", Temp and her cat Birdie are weathering Hurricane Incara that hits the South Carolina coast; both are fine however, the storm has washed up a medical waste container ~ inside are two bodies wrapped in plastic bond with electrical wire. Since Dr. Temperance Brennan is a medical forensic anthropologist she is called by the local coroner as this sounds a lot like an unsolved case in Quebec Canada. Additionally health authorities in South Carolina are alarmed about human flesh-eating bacteria. Aww our gal sure had her work cut out for herself!

In this story Temp is helping her daughter Kathy move. Kathy has been in the Military for two stays and Temp is so happy she is returning to South Carolina. They are preparing for the move as well as an upcoming snow storm; they find a box on Tempe’s back porch containing human eyeballs. ~ (I am sure this has nothing to do with the medical waste container from Book #20 but this too seems to be a repeat of a past case.)
This is a typical Temp story and is good (and I am sure it is just me) but not as great as I expected.

Want to thank NetGalley and Scribner for this eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for July 5, 2022

3.5 stars.

I really liked this book, and when comparing it to Reichs' first in this series, you can really tell how far she's come in terms of writing skill and overall story development. I remember the first time I read Deja Dead it took me forever to get into the story, but this was incredibly easy to get invested in from the start.

The mystery was pretty good, but there wasn't really an explanation behind why [REDACTED] chose to copycat old cases, and there were a couple of things that didn't really get tied up, at least for me. The characters were great, from the investigators to the suspects, and even the characters that didn't matter much, like the angry neighbor and his crazy kid.

I think the one thing I probably won't ever get used to in newer contemporaries is COVID mentions, but I guess that's the price we pay for reading contemporary.

I absolutely love Kathy Reichs books . I was a huge fan of the tv show bones to begin. So to be able to read all the books that inspired that tv show is awesome. Thank you Kathy Reichs and publisher for giving me an ARC copy of this book. I recommend all her books including this one.

Cold, Cold Bones (A Temperance Brennan Novel #21)
Kathy Reichs
Scribner Books from Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: July 5, 2022

Temperance Brennan, is a forensic anthropologist, working with medical examiners and coroners, “…needing help with corpses unfit for standard autopsy—the decomposed, dismembered, burned, mutilated, mummified, and skeletal.” Katy, her daughter, has returned home from combat, but won’t say why she decided to leave the army and move back to Charlotte. The two are moving Katy into her new place and decide to have dinner at Temperance’s. When Katy arrives, there is a box on the porch. Katy is leery, but Temperance opens it as a normal delivery and is shocked by its contents: A human eyeball. And there is minuscule lettering etched into it. So begins the mystery of Cold, Cold Bones, book #21 in the Temperance Brennan series.

The story moves along adding colorful characters as crimes are committed and investigated. The vivid descriptions of autopsies left me a little queasy, but I didn’t let that stop me from reading. The interspersed jokes lightened the forensic anthropology (which could be unnerving to the novice). After three corpses turn up that were similar to her old cases, Temperance knew she had “copycat corpses.” But who was behind them and why? Revenge?

I didn’t notice Cold, Cold Bones was a series when I selected it and I would suggest that the reader enjoy earlier books before reading #21 as it refers back to them. But the book can stand on its own.

I enjoyed the book and recommend it to those who read crime/forensics novels.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received an electronic arc in exchange for this honest review. Thanks to NetGalley and
Scribner Books.

Cold, Cold Bones – Kathy Reichs (Temperance Brennan #21)

It’s been a stressful day for Tempe Brennan and her daughter Katy, as they work to move Katy into her new apartment in Charlotte, NC. Finally discharged from the Army, Katy is trying to settle back into civilian life and Tempe is delighted she chose to be close, but she senses changes in her daughter, concerning for PTSD.
As the duo finish up for the day and head to the Annex, Tempe’s home, for a shower and dinner, Katy finds a box addressed to her mother on the front porch. As Tempe opens the box, she’s astonished to find a single eyeball, impaled on a pin, staring back at her. As they await the local police, Tempe inspects the gift, determining that it is human, and appears fresh. A nudge from Bird, Tempe’s cat, sends the eye rolling, and that’s when Katy notices some odd markings – which appear to be GPS coordinates.

As Tempe briefs Slidell, former Charlotte Detective, now turned PI and partnered w/ Ryan, Tempe’s beau, he is astonished. Even more so when a location of the coordinates reveals another macabre surprise – and a tug on Tempe’s memory – but why? Intrigued, he enlists the assistance of the police as well, with new Detective Donna Henry joining the investigation. Fresh from the West Coast and seemingly eager to prove herself, Tempe still finds her a bit rough around the edges.

As other bodies, seemingly random, begin to pile up, Tempe starts to notice a pattern – these deaths are eerily similar to cases she’s consulted on before, years ago, while working in Canada. But who would know of her past investigations? Why are they being duplicated? What is the endgame? Meanwhile Katy has been incommunicado, after a mention of a stalker and Tempe doesn’t know where to turn…

Another stunner from one of my most favorite authors!! )I feel like I say that a lot, but I have more than a few!) Reichs just gets better and better! I you love forensics, mystery and intrigue all wrapped up in a warp speed story – this novel – this whole series – is for you!!

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley & Scribner in exchange for an objective review. Do you love to read?? Visit netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!

As always, Kathy Reichs delivers. Every new Tempe Brennan novel is like meeting up with an old friend. The writing is perfect, the plot is gripping and just creepy enough to keep you hooked, and the ending is satisfying.