by Kathy Reichs
Part of Temperance Brennan, book 10
First published 2007
Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan examines a skeleton discovered in Acadia, Canada. The bones trigger memories of Évangéline Landry, a girl who disappeared during Tempe's childhood summers. Évangéline was exotic and free-spirited, slightly older than twelve-year-old Tempe. She brought excitement to those beach visits before vanishing without explanation. Adults whispered that Évangéline was dangerous, then told Tempe to forget about her missing friend. The skeletal remains show strange lesions that puzzle Tempe. She becomes obsessed with solving this decades-old disappearance. Meanwhile, detective Andrew Ryan desperately needs her expertise on current cases involving teenage abductions and murders. The investigation forces Tempe to confront buried trauma while juggling urgent present dangers. Both Ryan and her ex-husband announce unexpected plans for their futures, threatening to transform her personal world completely.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-detective, cold-case, obsession
Setting: Acadia, Canada
Period: childhood
310 pages · Hardcover · Scribner Book Company
Content warnings: death, mental-illness