Cold, Cold Bones

#1 New York Times bestselling thriller writer Kathy Reichs's twenty-first novel is "her masterpiece-smart, scary, complicated, and engrossing" (Michael Connelly)-and features forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan who uncovers a series of gruesome killings eerily reenacting the most shocking of her prior cases.

Winter has come to North Carolina and, with it, a drop in crime. Freed from a heavy work schedule, Tempe Brennan is content to dote on her daughter Katy, finally returned to civilian life from the army. But when mother and daughter meet at Tempe's place one night, they find a box on the back porch. Inside: a very fresh human eyeball.



GPS coordinates etched into the eyeball lead to a Benedictine monastery where an equally macabre discovery awaits. Soon after, Tempe examines a mummified corpse in a state park, and her anxiety deepens.



There seems to be no pattern to the subsequent killings uncovered, except that each mimics in some way a homicide that a younger Tempe had been called in to analyze. Who or what is targeting her, and why?



Could this elaborately staged scene be the prelude to a twist that is even more shocking? Tempe is at a loss to establish the motive for what is going on…and then her daughter disappears.



"The crowning achievement of a master storyteller" (Nelson DeMille), Cold, Cold Bones is a novel of revenge-one in which revisiting the past may prove the only way to unravel the present. Kathy Reichs's first novel Déjà Dead, published in 1997, won the Ellis Award for Best First Novel and was an international bestseller. Evil Bones is Reichs's twenty-fourth novel featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Reichs was also a producer of Fox Television's longest running scripted drama, Bones, which was based on her work and her novels. One of very few forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, Reichs divides her time between Charlotte, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina. Visit her at KathyReichs.com or follow her on X @KathyReichs, Instagram @KathyReichs, or Facebook @KathyReichsBooks.

Linda Emond has been nominated for three Tony Awards for her work in Cabaret, Death of a Salesman, and Life x 3. For her work off-Broadway, she is the recipient of a Lucille Lortel Award and an Obie. Television credits include Lodge 49, The Good Wife, Succession, and The Gilded Age. Film credits include Gemini Man, The Big Sick, Across the Universe, and Julie & Julia. "With two dozen books under her belt, Kathy Reichs should be running out of steam but Cold, Cold Bones is vintage Reichs. We have Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist, following a trail of weird clues, some good side partners, an excellent Carolina setting, and, best of all, a terrific revenge plot. . . . This is one of Reichs' best ever."

- The Globe and Mail "Smart, scary, complicated, and engrossing from the first sentence. Kathy Reichs has written her masterpiece, a story that reminds us that the past is not quiet and never completely behind us."

- MICHAEL CONNELLY, New York Times bestselling author of The Dark Hours and The Law of Innocence "Reanimates all the ghosts from Temperance Brennan's forensic past until they thoroughly haunt her present. Who or what is staging this grimly nostalgic murder spree? In Kathy Reichs' deft hands, the question is given delicious urgency. This page-turning series never lets the reader down."

- HARLAN COBEN, New York Times bestselling author of The Match "Masterfully constructed . . . The cold cases may be stacking up, but for Temperance Brennan, the real target is very close to home."

- J.A. JANCE, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to Lose and Proof of Life "A mystery within a mystery that invites you to get into the action, complete with twisting turns and heart-stopping dives into the unknown. What I love most about Kathy Reichs' nov