Evil Bones

by Kathy Reichs

Part of Temperance Brennan, book 24

First published 2025

Temperance Brennan notices a disturbing pattern in Charlotte, North Carolina. Someone is killing small animals and displaying their mutilated bodies in identical ways. A rat, a rabbit, a squirrel. Then the killer targets a dog. Tempe finds animal cruelty repulsive and decides to help catch whoever is responsible. Her great-niece Tory knows animal behavior well and becomes a useful partner. Detective Erskine "Skinny" Slidell shares Tempe's outrage and joins the investigation. A forensic psychologist warns them that this escalating violence often leads to human victims. The prediction proves correct when they discover a woman's body, disfigured and arranged exactly like the animal victims. Tempe and Slidell follow the evidence toward a disturbing truth about the nature of evil itself.

Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller

Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking

Tropes: escalating-violence, investigation

Setting: Charlotte, North Carolina

288 pages · Hardcover · Scribner

Content warnings: animal-death, violence

More by Kathy Reichs

• Bones Never Lie
• Speaking in Bones
• Two Nights
• Devil Bones
• Spider Bones
• Flash and Bones
• Bones Are Forever
• Bones of the Lost

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