Temperance Brennan Series

This series follows forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan as she helps solve crimes through the analysis of skeletal remains. Her work is tied to complex cases and personal challenges that she navigates throughout the books.

Recommended Reading Order

1
Déjà Dead
Kathy Reichs
3.7(874)Add rating
An Alternate Cover Edition for this ISBN can be found here. The meticulously dismembered body of a woman is discovered in the grounds of an abandoned monastery. 'Too decomposed for standard autopsy. Request anthropologic expertise.' Enter Dr Temperance Brennan, Director of Forensic Anthropology for the province of Quebec, who has been researching recent disappearances in the city. Despite the cynicism of Detective Claudel who heads the investigation, Brennan is convinced that a serial killer is at work. Her forensic expertise finally convinces Claudel, but only after the body count has risen... Tempe takes matters into her own hands, but her determined probing places those closest to her in mortal danger. Can Tempe make her crucial breakthrough before the killer strikes again?
2
Death du jour
Kathy Reichs
4.0(41634)Add rating
'Another day. Another death. Death du Jour. My God, how many such days would there be?' On a bitterly cold march night in Montreal, forensic anthropologiest Dr Temperance Brennan is exhuming the remains of a nun proposed for sainthood in the grounds of an old church. Just hours later, Tempe is called to the scene of an horrific arson. A young family has perished, and there seems to be no witness, no motive, no explanation. From the charred remains of the inferno, to a trail of sinister cult activity and a terrifying showdown during an ice storm, Tempe faces a nerve-shattering test of both her forensic expertise and her instinct for survival.
3
Deadly décisions
Kathy Reichs
333 pages
12 hours of reading
4.0(94870)Add rating
"Fans of TV's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation should be in heaven" (People) stepping into the world of forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan, star of Kathy Reichs' electrifyingly authentic bestsellers. When innocent blood is spilled, she deciphers the shattering truth it holds. Nine-year-old Emily Anne Toussaint is fatally shot on a Montreal street. A North Carolina teenager disappears from her home, and parts of her skeleton are found hundreds of miles away. The shocking deaths propel Tempe Brennan from north to south, and deep into a shattering investigation inside the bizarre culture of outlaw motorcycle gangs -- where one misstep could bring disaster for herself or someone she loves.
4
Fatal voyage
Kathy Reichs
420 pages
15 hours of reading
4.0(800)Add rating
Temperance Brennan rushes to North Carolina to help with a plane crash, when her investigations lead to an evil that will test her courage.
5
Grave Secrets
Kathy Reichs
448 pages
16 hours of reading
3.9(934)Add rating
In the searing heat of Guatemala, Dr Temperance Brennan must harden herself against the horrors she excavates. And then four young girls go missing from Guatemala City. When a skeleton is found at the back of a rundown hotel, only someone with Tempe's expertise can deduce the identity and cause of death. But as she searches for answers, her path is blocked at every turn. It is clear that some people will stop at nothing to keep Guatemala's secrets buried.
6
Bare Bones
Kathy Reichs
4.0(35341)Add rating
It's a summer of sizzling heat in Charlotte where Dr. Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist for the North Carolina medical examiner, looks forward to her first vacation in years. A romantic vacation. She's almost out the door when the bones start appearing. A newborn's charred remains turn up in a woodstove. A small plane crashes in a North Carolina cornfield on a sunny afternoon. Both pilot and passenger are burned beyond recognition. And what is the mysterious black substance covering the bodies? Most puzzling of all are the bones discovered at a remote farm outside Charlotte. The remains seem to be of animal origin, but Tempe is shocked when she gets them to her lab. With help from a special detective friend, Tempe must investigate a poignant and terrifying case that comes at the worst possible moment. Daughter Katy has a new boyfriend who Tempe fears may have something to hide. And important personal decisions face Tempe. Is it time for emotional commitment? Will she have the chance to find out? Everything must wait on the bones. Why are the X rays and DNA so perplexing? Who is trying to keep Tempe from the answers? Someone is following her and Katy. That someone must be stopped before it's too late.
7
Monday Mourning
Kathy Reichs
4.1(30360)Add rating
Forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan finds the skeletons of three young women in the basement of a pizza parlour. Homicide detective Luc Claudel believes the bones are historic. But Tempe has her doubts and sets out to prove that this is definitely a case of murder.
8
Cross bones
Kathy Reichs
497 pages
18 hours of reading
3.9(25079)Add rating
'Death by self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head' is the on-scene assessment, but the victim's relatives are adamant in their rejection of suicide as an explanation. Discovered in a closet, a week after death, the body is barely recognisable. Extreme heat has accelerated decomposition, and Dr Temperance Brennan's forensic expertise is required.|PB
9
Break no bones
Kathy Reichs
480 pages
17 hours of reading
3.9(814)Add rating
Dr Temperance Brennan and her students are working on a site of prehistoric graves on an island near Charleston, South Carolina, when a decomposing body is uncovered in a shallow grave off a lonely beach. The bone is fresh and the remains are still topped by wisps of hair âe" itâe(tm)s a recent burial, and a case Tempe must take. Tempe determines that the deceased is a middle-aged white male - but who was he? Why was he buried in a clandestine grave? And what does an unusual vertical fracture of one of the vertebrae signify? While Tempe is trying to piece together the evidence, her personal life is thrown into turmoil. But before long, another body is discovered - and Tempe finds herself drawn deeper into a shocking investigation which will challenge her entire view of humanity.
10
Bones to Ashes
Kathy Reichs
400 pages
14 hours of reading
3.8(641)Add rating
Reichs--bestselling author, forensic anthropologist, and producer of the television hit Bones, based on her Temperance Brennan books--delivers more awe-inspiring science and surprising twists in this gripping, sophisticated thriller.
11
Devil Bones
Kathy Reichs
3.8(500)Add rating
An underground chamber is exposed in a seedy, dilapidated house with sagging trim and peeling paint&In the dark cellar, a ritualistic display is revealed. A human skull rests on a cauldron, surrounded by slain chickens and bizarre figurines. Bead
12
206 Bones
Kathy Reichs
4.0(23557)Add rating
When Dr Temperance Brennan is accused of mishandling the autopsy of a missing heiress, a routine case swiftly turns sinister. But before Tempe can get to the one man with the information she needs, he turns up dead. In Montreal, three elderly women are found murdered, their bodies brutally discarded. Even though the clues don't add up, Tempe is certain of a link between their deaths and that of the heiress. Has Tempe made grave errors, or is she being sabotaged by an unseen enemy? What is frighteningly clear is that more than just Tempe's career is at stake. Her life is also at risk.
13
Spider Bones
Kathy Reichs
4.0(21348)Add rating
Forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan investigates the death of a man who appears to have died while engaged in a bizarre sexual act and who was originally declared dead four decades earlier.
14
Flash and bones
Kathy Reichs
3.9(19721)Add rating
FLASH! Illuminated by lightning, a lifeless human hand seems to reach from a barrel of asphalt beside the Charlotte racetrack. Even for forensic anthropologist Dr Tempe Brennan it is a disturbing sight. And now she must find answers before thousands arrive for the year's big race. But before she can carry out a proper examination, the FBI mysteriously confiscate and destroy the body. It's a dead end. Until a young engineer alerts Tempe to the disappearance of his sister and her boyfriend from Charlotte twelve years earlier, and she determines to uncover what really happened to them. Soon after, the engineer's body is found crushed under the wheels of a race car. Tempe realises the situation is truly sinister - and that even her own life could be in terrible danger.
15
Bones are forever
Kathy Reichs
3.9(17953)Add rating
The gripping new Temperance Brennan novel from the world class forensic anthropologist and Number 1 bestselling author. A newborn baby is found wedged in a vanity cabinet in a rundown apartment near Montreal. Dr Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist to the province of Quebec, is brought in to investigate. While there, she discovers the mummified remains of two more babies within the same room. Shocked and distressed, Tempe must use all her skills and inner strength to focus on the facts. But when the autopsies reveal that the children died of unnatural causes, the hunt for the mother - a young woman with a seedy past and at least three aliases - is on. The trail leads Tempe to Yellowknife, a cold, desolate diamond-mining town on the edge of the Arctic Circle, where her quest for the truth only throws up more questions, more secrets, and more dead bodies. Taking risks and working alone, Tempe refuses to give up until she has discovered why the babies died. But in such a hostile environment, can she avoid being the next victim?
16
Bones of the Lost
Kathy Reichs
3.7(310)Add rating
The gripping new Temperance Brennan novel from the world-class forensic anthropologist and Number 1 bestselling author Kathy Reichs The body of a teenage girl is discovered along a desolate highway on the outskirts of Charlotte. Inside her purse is the ID card of a local businessman who died in a fire months earlier. Who was the girl? And was she murdered? Dr Temperance Brennan, Forensic Anthropologist, must find the answers. She soon learns that a Gulf War veteran stands accused of smuggling artefacts into the country. Could there be a connection between the two cases? Convinced that the girlâe(tm)s death was no accident, Tempe soon finds herself at the centre of a conspiracy that extends from South America to Afghanistan. But to find justice for the dead, she must be more courageous - and take more extreme action - than ever before.
17
Bones Never Lie
Kathy Reichs
4.0(256)Add rating
The gripping new Temperance Brennan novel from the world-class forensic anthropologist and Number 1 bestselling author Kathy Reichs. Tempe is faced with the horrifying possibility that the killer who got away in Monday Mourning is back... For a decade, Temperance Brennan has been haunted by the one who got away. The killer of young women. The monster. And the one who has now come back. Feeding on fear, grief and rage. Killing again. Killing girls. Getting closer. Coming for Tempe.
18
Speaking in bones
Kathy Reichs
3.9(222)Add rating
The compelling new Dr Temperance Brennan novel from the world-class forensic anthropologist and Number 1 bestselling author Kathy Reichs. When forensic anthropologist Dr Tempe Brennan is approached by amateur detective Hazel âe~Luckyâe(tm) Strike, at first she is inclined to dismiss the womanâe(tm)s claims that sheâe(tm)s matched a previously unidentified set of remains with a name. But as the words of a terrified young woman echo round her office from an audio recorder found near where the bones were discovered, something about the story wonâe(tm)t let Tempe go. As Tempe investigates further she finds herself involved in a case more complicated and horrifying than she could ever have imagined.
19
A Conspiracy of Bones
Kathy Reichs
352 pages
13 hours of reading
3.7(8676)Add rating
EVERY BODY HAS SECRETS It all starts with a series of text messages. Each message contains a new picture of a corpse, missing its face and hands. Dr Temperance Brennan needs to find out who the dead man is, and why the images were sent to her. The only problem is, she has been kicked off the team. So she goes rogue, knowing that she is the only one who can solve this case. As she starts her investigation she discovers a connection to a decade-old missing child case. The more she uncovers, the darker and more twisted the picture becomes ...
20
The bone code
Kathy Reichs
3.9(9326)Add rating
NUMBER ONE NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author KATHY REICHS returns with her next edge-of-your seat thriller featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.
21
Cold, Cold Bones
Kathy Reichs
3.9(7824)Add rating
Electrifying, heart-stopping and compulsive, this is Tempe's most personal and dangerous case yet . . .