by Kathy Reichs
Part of Temperance Brennan, book 14
First published 2011
Lightning reveals a human hand protruding from an asphalt barrel at the Charlotte racetrack. Forensic anthropologist Dr Tempe Brennan faces a grim discovery just days before thousands of racing fans descend for the season's major event. She needs to work fast to identify the remains and determine the cause of death. The FBI steps in without explanation, seizing and destroying the evidence before Brennan can complete her examination. The case appears closed until a young engineer approaches her about his sister and her boyfriend who vanished from Charlotte twelve years ago. Brennan decides to investigate their disappearance on her own. The engineer turns up dead, crushed beneath race car wheels. Brennan realizes she has stumbled into something far more dangerous than a single murder. Someone will kill to keep these secrets buried, and her own determination to find the truth puts her directly in harm's way.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, action
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, investigation, secrets
Setting: Charlotte, North Carolina
Period: present-day
278 pages · Hardcover · Scribner
Content warnings: violence