The title contains Tempe's problem as she investigates the body in the lake. A raptor center source of funding goes beyond the usual sources and unearths even more evil. ( )

Short. Read it in less than a day, and part of the book is filled with a preview of her next book.
It should have been cheaper, free or half an Euro. But ok, good authors like her are worth it.
A good story, no mistakes I detected - maybe that is why I pay for books like this one, some cheap or free books are riddled with spelling errors, logical mistakes, bad grammar.
Highly recommended, but keep in mind that it is short. And consider that with what you are paying for it.
Given that I pay often less than 9 Euros for good book by a high-profile author like Kathy Reichs after waiting half a year or a year for the price to drop, I may have bought this too early. ( )

Title - Bones In Her Pocket

Author - Kathy Reichs

Summary -

A canvas bag floats to the top of Mountain Island Lake in North Carolina and forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan is called in to investigate. Inside is the decomposed body of a young adult female that fits the profile of missing graduate student Edith Blankenship.

What startles Temperance even more is the small cache of bones that are located in Edith's hip and groin area. As if someone had shoved an animal inside of her. Or as Tempe deduces, she had carried the small animal in her pocket and when the clothes and body decomposed, the bones slid amongst Edith remains.

"...Why'd she surface?"
"As a corpse decomposes the body cavity fills with methane gas produced by bacteria in the gut. The bloating, helped the flooding, likely floated the bag."
"You're always so full of sunshine, doc."
"An experienced killer would puncture the gut and intestines, then weight the container so it stays down. Blankenship was amateur hour..."

But why would Edith be carrying a small animal in her pocket and how had they ended up in the Lake, in a canvas bag?

Together with Detective Skinny Slidell, Brennan must unravel the secrets that led to the death of this young woman.

Review -

Temperance (Tempe) Brennan is the fictional character that inspired the TV character Bones and in the literary form, she is a lot more engaging. You will not find a socially inept, though her love life might not always be working just fine, robotic uber intelligent fairly one dimension character like she is portrayed on television.

Something I never understood about American Television, if you are an intelligent woman, you can't have a personality?

No, in the books, Tempe is very human with very human problems and triumphs. A divorced woman whose private life is often out of control but whose ability in the professional world is where she shines the best. She feels. She is passionate about her work and the bodies that end up under her care. The bones that tell her the final story of the lives that led them to this end, and if the end is unjust, Tempe will fight to bring them justice. And you don't need a GQ FBI agent to do your heavy lifting for you. Just cops, on the American and Canadian side. Good old blue collar cops. The result is a far more personable and relatable character.

In this short story, Bones in Her Pocket, Brennan ties the body of Edith Blankenship to a radical environmental group and a liaison with an older professor. Was she killed to protect the illegal acts of the militant environmentalists? Or was she killed to keep a married professor's affair secret? Or was she killed over the small bones in her pocket? Bones that would lead Tempe into one of the most darkest and heinous rooms of her career.

A good short read. Reichs does a masterful job of keeping the detail and pace of the forensic investigation in such a small package. Another winner. ( )

I don’t watch the tv series Bones, so I didn’t start this knowing anything about it. I loved the story line, but did have a hard time hearing about the puppies. I also felt the story could have been stretched out a little longer so that you wouldn’t find out what was going on so quickly. The characters were very well developed for such a short book and I thought Linda Emond did a great job of narrating.

This was a short one, only a few hours, but it was interesting and well worth the time I spent listening to it. ( )

Listened for Review (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Tracking Books Read Review (Short)
Overall Rating: 4.50
Story Rating: 4.50
Character Rating: 4.50

Audio Rating: 4.00 (Not Part of the Overall Rating)

First Thought when Finished: Bones in Her Pocket was a short Tempe story (short stories are usually not a hit with me) but it hit on a subject near and dear to my heart so I loved it!

Overall Thoughts: Bones in Her Pocket was a novella where Temperance has a case that is a little outside the norm for her. Two things: I really enjoyed this quick short story and I believe Kathy wrote it to raise awareness about puppy mills. Needless to say, I totally approve of the way that she went about doing that. She wove a pretty good little mystery with some real world issues. For those that don't know me (well) I am a huge advocate for animals so I might be a little bit biased. However, I had no clue what this was about before I picked it up. I just love the series and this fits right in! If you are a fan of this series, you should give this shorter story a whirl.

Audio Thoughts:

Narrated By Linda Emond / Length: 1 hr and 56 mins

I love Linda's narration of the Temperance Brennan series. She does such a good job with Tempe. I will warn people that are just fans of the show, Tempe is very different in the books. Linda nails her personality with precision but if you are expecting the tv version then you will be disappointed.

Final Thoughts: I need the next one now! I am not very patient :) ( )