Kathy Reichs is a famous American crime writer, forensic anthropologist, and an academic. She writes two main novel series: Temperance Brennan and Virals. Buzzle provides you with a complete list of Kathy Reichs books in order of publication, along with a brief synopsis of each book from both the series.
Did You Know?
Kathy Reichs is the author of numerous bestsellers, but she also is the producer of the famous television show Bones, which is about to enter its 10th season, featured popularly on the FOX channel. The show is the living version of Reichs’ Temperance Brennan series.
Kathleen Joan Toelle Reichs a.k.a Kathy Reichs, is an American writer, whose first book Déjà Dead won the 1997 Ellis Award for the Best First Novel. She is a forensic anthropologist by profession, and also an academic, which matches the résumé of her crime-fiction heroine Temperance Brennan. Kathy, being a forensic anthropologist, uses some of her first-hand experiences when writing Brennan, which makes the character look more realistic and less fictional.
As an academic, she is currently the professor of anthropology in the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has written several research papers and books when it comes to her career as an academic. She has also assisted several organizations in their forensic operations. She was a contributing member of the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team assigned to assist at the World Trade Center disaster. Dr. Reichs is one of the eighty-two forensic anthropologists to be certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology.
Kathy co-authors the Virals series with her son Brendan Reichs. The books in this series revolve around the main character Tory Brennan, Temperance’s great niece. Along with her paperback novels, Reichs has also contributed to her Virals and Brennan series in the form of e-novellas (short stories). Here is a list of books of her two main series and 4 e-novellas.
Temperance Brennan Series
The Temperance Brennan series is the finest works of Reichs, and is all about crime and detectives. Most of the novels in this series focus upon forensics and examination of human and animal remains (decomposed), to solve a mystery.
Déjà Dead
Published: 1997
ISBN (Paperback): 0-09-925518-9
A woman’s body is found in a monastery in Montreal. The investigation begins, but the forensics find it too difficult to collect any clues due to the severely decomposed state of the body; hence an anthropologist is summoned.
The plot then brings into picture Dr. Temperance Brennan, Director of Forensic Anthropology of the Quebec province. Brennan, who has been working on recent disappearances in the city, is handed the case with detective Claudel being the head of the investigation. In spite of Claudel’s skeptical behavior, Brennan believes that there is a serial killer behind these disappearances, and also proves this to Claudel with her expertise in forensics. The number of murders rise, and Brennan finally begins investigating things herself, but with her loved ones at stake.
Death du Jour
Published: 1999
ISBN (Paperback): 0-09-925519-7
Brennan’s back researching the remains of a nun proposed for sainthood in the earths of a church in Montreal, Canada. As she digs out for more signs amidst the chilly but curious night, she gets a call to a crime scene.
When she arrives, she finds the most horrific picture; a family is dead, no witnesses, no fingerprints, no motive or rivalry, nothing at all. As Brennan sniffs clues out of nowhere with her forensic expertise, she finds herself chasing the murderer to Beaufort, South Carolina. Brennan is faced with a test which would judge her forensic expertise as well as her survival instincts. Will she solve this eerie mystery and catch the murderer?
Deadly Decisions
Published: 2000
ISBN (Paperback): 0-09-930710-3
Brennan, after an excavation at the clubhouse of a motorcycle gang, finds the bones of a young girl from Myrtle beach, South Carolina. She opts for an assignment involving investigation on criminal activities among outlaw motorcycle gangs in Quebec. Brennan is assisted by Claudel, who due to lack of cooperation, proves to be a bane to her and the investigation.
Meanwhile, Brennan’s nephew Kit comes over to her place for a stay, and exhibits a worrying interest in Harley Davidson motorcycles and their riders. Will Brennan solve this case and find out the truth about the girl’s remains which she found in the clubhouse and get hold of the criminal? Would she save her nephew from the biking influence he’s had recently?
Fatal Voyage
Published: 2001
ISBN (Paperback): 0-09-930720-0
A mysterious plane crash in the foggy mountains of North Carolina drags Brennan to investigate the scene. She finds a severed foot, specifically chewed by a coyote. As per Brennan’s excellent forensic knowledge, it does not belong to any of the crash victims.
As she moves along the case and exhumes deeper into the facts and figures, she is constantly invoked and threatened by the killer who tries to stop her from investigating further. As the number of murders go on increasing, Brennan fights to stop another murder; maybe her own. Read how she saves the day and herself, in this nail-biting novel of Kathy Reichs.
Grave Secrets
Published: 2002
ISBN (Paperback): 0-09-930730-8
Brennan is searching for human remains in Guatemala with her team. She finds many human belongings and also a decomposed corpse of a child deeper in a pit. After the excavation, Brennan witnesses the killing of two of her colleagues.
Meanwhile, the Guatemala police require Brennan’s services and her expert advice on another murder case; a case of four privileged women who have vanished from the city and have been found in a septic tank somewhere near the run-down hotel in the city. As she investigates the case, she finds herself trapped in the bounds of money, power, greed, and science converge. Brennan tries to find out what happened to the missing women and her colleagues.
Bare Bones
Published: 2003
ISBN (Paperback): 0-09-944147-0
Bare Bones is all about a number of random events happening across the city, and the way Temperance Brennan tries to find a common thread to all of them. A picnic at Cowans Ford gets ruined when Brennan’s dog discovers bones of both, a human and an animal, in the treacherous outhouse. A wooden stove holds the skeleton of a newborn which Brennan needs to recognize; it probably is the child born to the missing daughter of one of her former colleagues. Then there’s a plane crash, with the occupants possibly being drug lords. To top it all, Brennan finds frequent emails in her inbox; threatening and asking her to back-off from the case. Will Brennan find the missing piece of this strange puzzle? How are the emails related to these random happenings?
Monday Mourning
Published: 2004
ISBN (Paperback): 0-09-944148-9
Brennan is on a case regarding the skeletons of three girls found in a Pizza Parlor in Montreal, Canada. As per her expertise, she figures out that the girls were buried after 1955. Case in-charge Luc Claudel dismisses the case, convinced by the fact that these are normal burials, and there’s nothing to worry about. Brennan is annoyed by his irresponsible behavior of no further investigation, and decides to take the case on herself. As she goes on with the case, she finds three of the most crucial witnesses related to the case.
Cross Bones
Published: 2005
ISBN (Paperback): 0-09-944149-7
Brennan discovers a badly decomposed corpse of an antique dealer and Orthodox Jew in Montreal, Canada. But her forensic knowledge tells her that the damage on the body of the man ain’t ordinary, and has connections with some ancient secrets in Israel. As Brennan, along with Andrew, and an archaeologist friend Jake Drum, visit Israel in search of an answer, they are threatened by orthodox cults and strangers. Will Brennan find this ancient secret? Is there any secret at all, or just a master plan?
Break No Bones
Published: 2006
ISBN (Paperback): 0-434-01544-X
Brennan’s teaching a group of archaeology students in a native American burial ground, on the shores of Charlestone, South Carolina. As she explains about the remains and the way to study the ancient bones, she suddenly discovers a fresh skeleton amongst the ancient corpses. As Brennan explores the depths of the case, more corpses are discovered. She follows the clues while she unfolds every single scene of this mysterious case; where every corpse has signs of strangulation and similar marks. Meanwhile, she has a complicated love life too. Who’s it going to be, her sometime lover Andrew Ryan or her husband Pete? Brennan has to decide.
With the enormous success of Cross Bones, Reichs brings us another solid thriller with eerie killings and Brennan’s forensic knowledge, along with a sour twist in her personal life. Would things be sweet again? Would Brennan find the secret behind these corpses?
Bones to Ashes
Published: 2007
ISBN (Paperback): 978-1416525653
During her childhood, Brennan had a best friend named Evangeline from Acadia, who suddenly disappeared after a while. There was no clue of her whereabouts, and Brennan was warned not to go and search for her. Years later, Brennan is assigned a case involving the bones of a young girl discovered in Acadia, Canada. Her wandering mind won’t let her sleep, as she can’t stop connecting the young bones to her childhood friend Evangeline and her strange disappearance from Acadia.
On the other hand, Ryan is investigating a series of murders and missing cases. All the victims are young girls. Would the two cases have something in common? Is the skeleton found in Acadia that of the disappeared Evangeline?
Devil Bones
Published: 2008
ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-4391-5440-3
Temperance Brennan faces a one-of-a-kind case in her profession as a forensic anthropologist. This new case shows signs of devil worship and satanism. A plumber accidentally finds a secret cellar in an under-renovation home in Charlotte, North Carolina. The cellar contains horrid items; animal bones, a decapitated chicken, and cauldrons containing bird feathers, beads, and other ceremonial stuff. In the center of the shrine is the skull of a teenage girl. Meanwhile, on a nearby shore, a headless body of a young boy is found.
Brennan, who is an atheist, investigates with her forensic knowledge and expertise in anthropology.
206 Bones
Published: 2009
ISBN (Paperback): 978-0-4340-2005-8
Brennan is abducted and doesn’t remember a thing about how she ended up in this enclosed space where she is imprisoned. Most part of the story is told in flashback, while several scenes of her escape are spread across the plot.
The flashback is about a case Brennan is investigating; the murder of an old lady and her remains which are present in a grave in the midst of Quebec. Brennan takes the skeleton to her lab for examination, assuming it to have all 206 bones present. But soon, she discovers that the finger bones, which could possibly confirm the identity of the victim, are missing. Detective Ryan and Brennan are up solving another crime and clearing off Brennan’s name from an accusation made on her in Chicago.
Spider Bones
Published: 2010
ISBN (Paperback): 978-0-0995-5686-2
Brennan is assigned the duty to examine the remains of the recently found dead body of John ‘Spider’ Lowery, an American ex-soldier killed in Vietnam in 1968. As she examines the remains, the need to check some U.S. military records relating to Spider drag her all the way to Hawaii. Brennan and her daughter Katy (whose friend has been killed in Afghanistan) land in Hawaii, where Detective Ryan and his recovering daughter Lily join them. Both Ryan and Brennan are on the trail of a gory secret, but maybe at the cost of their daughters.
Flash and Bones
Published: 2011
ISBN (Paperback): 978-1439102411
A body is found in a barrel next to Charlotte Motor Speedway. Sometime later, a NASCAR racer Wayne comes to Brennan and narrates a story about his sister Cindi, a high school senior and an aspiring racer. Her boyfriend Cale Lovette was involved in a group of right-wing extremists known as Patriot Posse. Both Cindi and Cale suddenly go missing. Does the body in the barrel belong to any of the two?
The Cale-Cindi investigation was terminated by the F.B.I without a meaningful verdict. Was this just due to the absence of clues or a cover up? As Brennan tries finding answers, and examines the spot over and over again, she encounters a fatal substance near the victim’s body. Meanwhile, an employee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention disappears. Is this employee involved in the murders? Was he using the substance found to commit murders?
Bones are Forever
Published: 2012
ISBN (Paperback): 978-0434021130
A lady named Amy Roberts arrives at the Montreal hospital complaining of severe bleeding. Doctors diagnose conditions of recent pregnancy, but before any treatment can be done, the lady disappears. The police investigate on the address given by the lady at the hospital, and are terrorized to find bloody towels outside the house. Brennan is summoned to investigate on the case.
In an apartment, Brennan discovers three decomposing bodies of infants. On inquiring, she gets to know that a lady named Alma Rogers is the resident of the house. Then there is a complaint from a man about a missing lady Alva Rodriguez. Do these three names belong to, not three, but one lady? Did she kill her own babies? Why? Would Brennan locate her and find out the answers?
Bones of the Lost
Published: 2013
ISBN (Paperback): 978-1439102459
There’s been a murder in Charlotte on a two-lane highway. Police discover the body of a teenage girl. Brennan, while examining her body, finds signs of foul play. The girl is related to a prominent businessman who was killed in the flea market fire some months back.
The police also assign a case of antique trafficking to Brennan, which involves smuggling of dog mummies by a primary suspect Dominick Rockett. Is there any connection between the murder and the smuggling?
Bones Never Lie
Published: Due September, 2014
ISBN (Paperback): 978-0-8041-9447-1
Temperance Brennan is asked to meet a homicide cop in relation to two child murders. Though the murders haven’t occurred in the same place, there’s surely one link, the killer. Some years back, a criminal, Pomerleau, kidnapped and murdered a group of young girls in Canada, and evaded Brennan and detective Andrew Ryan.
Pomerleau is back and active with the two recent murders, and plans for more. A third child is murdered eventually, and Brennan has to do everything she can to stop one of the deadliest killer she has ever been up against. Will Brennan catch Pomerleau this time? Will she stop further homicides?
Virals Series
Reichs’ Virals series was the idea of her son Brendan, who also co-authors it. The series is meant for young adults, and includes fantasy and science-fiction. The main characters include Tory Brennan, and her friends Hiram Stolowitski, Ben Blue, and Shelton Devers.
Virals
Published: 2010
ISBN (Paperback): 978-0099543947
The first novel is named after the series. Tory Brennan and her friends live on an island off the coast of South Carolina. During their expeditions on a nearby island, namely Loggerhead island, they rescue a caged dog from the research institute located there. But an accidental exposure to an experimental virus gives them special powers.
Tory and her friends have to solve a murder case with their newly acquired powers; a case involving the murder of a soldier from the Vietnam war era. The kids ain’t ordinary anymore, they are the Virals.
Seizure
Published: 2011
ISBN (Paperback): 978-1595143945
The Virals are all set for a treasure hunt. Why? The institute of Loggerhead which gave them their powers is out of funds and about to shut down. But the Virals ain’t letting that happen. The treasure hunt plan comes up when Tory hears about a legend of a she-pirate Anne Bonney, whose riches were never found. A lost treasure is the best way to save the institute is what the pack thinks.
But are they the only people looking for the treasure? Will their powers help them get the lost treasure and protect themselves from danger? Kathy and Brendan Reichs narrate their adventures in their book Seizure.
Code
Published: 2013
ISBN (Paperback): 978-0099543855
A geocache containing a puzzle box is found by the Virals. The box ain’t ordinary, but one with a cipher. Shelton deciphers the code, only to find more inside. What’s the plan of the owner of this box? ‘The Gamemaster’, as he calls himself. As the virals go on deciphering codes, they find a box with a fake bomb and a threatening note inside giving details of a real time-bomb which is all set to destroy habitation and innocent humans. Will the Virals locate the bomb and save the people?
Exposure
Published: 2014
ISBN (Paperback): 978-1595145307
Two classmates are abducted from the virals’ school Bolton Prep, and the virals decide to investigate. But then there’s another abduction, when Tory’s best friend Ella goes missing too. The virals are in more of a dilemma, as their powers are getting intense and uncontrollable, so is their unity vanishing; and then the abduction case.
Will the virals solve the case and save their pack? Will they be able to keep their secret?
Terminal – Upcoming (Tentatively in March 2015)
Novellas
- Shift – 2013 (From the ‘Virals’ series)
- Bones In Her Pocket – 2013 (Temperance Brennan Series)
- Swipe – 2013 (From the ‘Virals’ series)
- Swamp Bones – 2013 (Temperance Brennan Series)
Her books can be bought at Kathy Reichs.
Kathy Reichs’ books are page-turners and spine-chillers when it comes to cold-blooded murders and investigations. Especially, the Temperance series, where the protagonist investigates bones and skeletons to map the killer and solve the case.