On this edition of Parallax Views, Kathy Reichs, author of the best-selling Bones series of murder mystery/thriller novels, joins us to discuss the 21st entry in the series, Cold, Cold Bones. The Bones books follows Temperance Brennan as she helps solve crimes with her expertise in forensic anthropology. Reichs’ novels became so popular that they eventually spawned a hit TV series that lasted 12 seasons.
In Cold, Cold Bones Tempe is made to revisit her old cases after she and her daughter discover a mysterious package at her place. Said package contains a human eyeball that leads her to a Benedictine Monastery and what eventually comes to pass is that a copycat killer familiar with Tempe’s earlier cases is on the loose. Will Tempe solve the murders in time?
In this conversation Reichs and I discuss the enduring nature of the Bones series, speculation that Tempe is on the autism spectrum, the ways in which readers relate to Tempe, thoughts on the hit TV series based on Reichs’ books, working at Ground Zero after 9/11, Reichs’ anthropological work in Guatamala (which inspired her novel Grave Secrets), the appearance of humor in her murder mystery stories, an overview of Cold, Cold Bones, the snowstorm setting of Cold, Cold Bones, misconceptions about forensic anthropology, DNA and the evolution of forensic anthropology, how newspaper headlines and stories influence Kathy’s stories, how CRISPR tech influenced a Temperance Brennan murder mystery, how Kathy went from bio-archaeology to helping police on cases as a forensic anthropologist, and more!
