by Kathy Reichs
Part of Temperance Brennan, book 16
First published 2013
Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan examines a teenage girl's corpse found beside a remote highway outside Charlotte. The victim carries an airline card belonging to John-Henry Story, a local businessman who perished in a fire months before. Brennan wonders how these two deaths connect. She also investigates ancient Peruvian dog mummies seized by customs officials. Desert Storm veteran Dominick Rockett faces charges for smuggling the artifacts across borders. Brennan suspects the antiquities trade links to human trafficking networks. Her personal life fragments as her daughter Katy joins the military after losing her boyfriend in Afghanistan. Katy's father Pete demands Brennan sign their divorce papers. Multiple cases converge as Brennan uncovers a criminal conspiracy stretching from South American smuggling routes through Afghan connections into Charlotte's business community.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, personal-life-fragments
Setting: Charlotte, Peru, Afghanistan, South America
Period: Desert Storm
324 pages · Hardcover · Scribner
Content warnings: violence