Brain lesion. Faceless corpse. Exile. Conspiracy. Exploitation of the vulnerable.
If that sounds like a good story—with the added element of accurate forensic science representation—you may want to purchase a copy of Kathy Reichs’ brand-new book, A Conspiracy of Bones, the 19th in the Temperance Brennan series.
In 1997, Reichs’ first Temperance Brennan novel Déjà Dead catapulted her to fame when it became a New York Times bestseller. Eighteen books and a long-running TV show later, the character of Temperance Brennan is renowned for being a brilliant, unwavering, committed forensic anthropologist. Reichs was a producer on Bones through all 12 seasons—245 episodes. This helped ensure the show didn’t fall into the dreaded “CSI Effect,” but rather accurately portray forensic anthropology and the tools and techniques required to inch closer to justice.
The fictional Dr. Brennan got her start in forensic anthropology the same way Reichs did.
“My Ph.D. was in biological anthropology and my specialty was in bio-archeology. My plan was to work with ancient skeletons and archeologically recovered materials,” Reichs told Forensic during a phone interview. “But when police would find human remains, they would say, ‘well let’s just take them to the bone lady at the university.’ And that’s how I shifted over from archeology to forensics.”
When Reichs was in the lab in the 1980s and 1990s, technology looked a little different. Reichs wasn’t taking samples to test for DNA, or to run through a mass spec looking for isotope markers that would indicate region of living. There was no rapid DNA, no next-generation sequencing. Through the years, Brennan, just like every other forensic scientist, has had to adapt. This comes to fruition in what Reichs calls one of most important developments in her newest book.
“[Brennan] has always told [the detective] DNA can only be used for comparative purposes. You can’t use it in a vacuum, you have to have a possible ID, a name, and then you can go get comparative samples from DNA,” Reichs explained. “Now, for the first time, she is telling him that DNA can also be predictive. We can actually collect DNA from a crime scene, a suspect or a victim, and from that DNA, we can predict things like hair color, eye color and cranial and facial shape. An algorithm can reveal racial background and geographic area from which that unknown suspect might have come. Moving toward the predictive capability of DNA is a big development.”
Book 19- A Conspiracy of Bones
Each book in the Bones series is inspired by a case Reichs worked on during her time in the lab. A Conspiracy of Bones is no different. In Ottawa, Reichs had the case of a missing journalist who was murdered, her body dumped in the woods, and scavenged by bears. Reichs took that case and reimagined it—changing the bear to feral hogs, which are common in North Carolina, the setting of the book, and making the corpse faceless.
It’s texted pictures of this faceless (and hands-less) corpse that rouse Brennan out of recovery from neurosurgery following an aneurysm. Even before the remains of the faceless corpse surface, Brennan is anxious to know who is sending these bizarre messages to her—and why.
Determining what is real and what is not is something Brennan battles throughout the book, but Reichs says the theme extends beyond the book.
“In today’s atmosphere, anyone can write a blog or say anything live,” Reichs said. “Even people in authority can do this. So, how does the average person sort through all the alterative facts?”
While the neurosurgery was successful and Brennan’s aneurism is blocked, she is still having migraines and must take medication. For the first time ever, Brennan is forced to question her own perceptions and abilities. For this fictional forensic anthropologist, who has previously prided herself on her very clear idea of right vs. wrong, good vs. bad, emotion vs. reason, that is not an easy pill to swallow.
An interesting author’s note at the end explains that, given the timeline of writing and releasing a book and how quickly today’s technology moves, Reichs always has “feelers” out. She said she is always testing the air for new developments in forensics.
“I am always looking for something that is going to be of interest to the public down the road, something that hasn’t really made the news yet but is going to be there soon,” Reichs said. “In this book specifically, we learn about brain lesions, the predictive capability of DNA and also facial reconstruction. We have moved past the days of using clay for reconstruction. Now, it’s all done on a computer, which is so much better. We can take the information learned and actually create a phenotype sketch from it.”
The field of forensic anthropology
As of 2018, there are 119 board-certified forensic anthropologists in the country—Reichs counted among them. And the novelist/scientist is not shy about how important she feels board certification is to the forensic anthropology industry, as well as forensic science as a whole.
“We have to self-regulate,” she said. “Whether it’s forensic chemistry, forensic dentistry, forensic anthropology, we have to ensure that those claiming to be practitioners are in fact qualified. That’s why board certification is so important. We need to ensure officers and lawyers going to court have a way to evaluate who is a serious, fully qualified player. The first step is board certification.”
The 2009 National Academies of Science report, which turned a critical eye toward forensic “experts,” was catalyst behind the industry’s movement to truly qualify scientists. As of 2020, the American Association of Forensic Scientists (AAFS) has established 12 standards board consensus bodies, including anthropology.
While Reichs had to cancel her planned book tour due to COVID-19 concerns, A Conspiracy of Bones is available through retailers like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Poisoned Pen and Murder by the Book. Instead of meeting her readers in person, Reichs said she will be turning to a cyber connection in this new normal. More information can be found on her website www.kathyreichs.com.
Photo: Kathy Reichs (right) with Emily Deschanel, who portrayed Dr. Temperance Brennan in the TV show Bones. Credit: www.kathyreichs.com/bones.