Book 43 of 2012: Break No Bones

I realise that I've probably said this for each Kathy Reichs book I've reviewed on here, but this time I actually mean it; Break No Bones is the last Kathy Reichs book that I've read. Actually, I suppose by the time this is posted this will be a lie (thanks to the wonders of scheduled posting) because I've just started on the next book in the series and I'll probably be finished with it by the end of the week when this gets posted.

In this one Tempe is conducting an anthropological field school on an island currently undergoing development, when they dig up a body which is a little too modern for the course. While investigating this, Tempe's estranged husband shows up in town conducting a little investigation of his own. Then things get a bit messier and her current on/off love Andrew Ryan shows up for a visit as well. Oh yeah, and there's some more murders in there as well.

I'd more or less forgotten this book, though as the series progressed I realised I hadn't read about Pete, Tempe's ex, getting shot so it had to have been in one of the later books that I'd read. And I was right, it was in this one. Aside from that, I remembered very little of the actual cases in this one so it was more like reading it for the first time.

I liked this one more than Cross Bones because it was back to dealing with murder cases and criminal investigations again, however having Tempe, her ex-husband and her current boyfriend all decend on this small town and get involved in the investigation is a little far-fetched. There would have to have been some repercussions in the prosecution if they found out that these extra people had gotten involved.

I was willing to let that go though, because it was a good read. I think one of the main things I liked about it was the fact that I couldn't remember who did it. Not so good for getting sleep as it did mean that I ended up staying up far too late reading; promising myself just one more chapter and then getting to a cliffhanger and thinking 'well I can't stop now'.

One thing that does bug me about the character of Tempe Brennan is her indecision regarding Andrew Ryan. I realise that first and foremost it's a series of crime books, I don't read them expecting romance, but I still remember that moment when they first almost hooked up. I was on the train pulling into Glasgow Central on my way to university and I was hurriedly reading, wanting to find out what would happen before I had to get off and put my book away!

But nine books on, the will they/won't they is beginning to wear a bit thin. I'd like them to either hurry up and make a decision one way or the other. They're both adults and it's been about ten years, cut to the chase already! If they are going to split up and Tempe wants to reunite with her husband, then fair enough, but stop going backwards and forwards. Though, that said, I really don't like the idea of Tempe and Pete as much as Tempe and Ryan.

"I crumbled. "There's a tick in your collar."
Winborne moved faster than it seemed possible for a man of his bulk to move, yanking his collar, doubling over, and batting his neck in one jerk. The tick flew to the sand and righted itself, apparently used to rejection."Pages 7 + 8