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Cross Bones

by Kathy Reichs

Cross Bones is Kathy Reich's latest in the series with her forensic anthropologist heroine, Temperance Brennen, and quite naturally, Ms. Reichs gets most of the material for her mystery novels from her own experience (Kathy Reichs is also an anthropologist). Cross Bones takes us across the pond to Israel, where we're plunged into intensive knowledge about Jewish people and Jewish faith as well as the Muslims and Christians. Kathy Reichs also manages to insert information about bones – at times perhaps a bit more involved than an uninformed reader may want to handle! But any digression in that area can certainly be overlooked when you consider the amazing story as a whole.

During her stint in Montreal, Quebec (she does work there as well as in North Carolina) Tempe gets the body of Avram Ferris, an Orthodox Jewish man who has been shot to death. Subsequently she receives the photograph of a skeleton with the comment that this was why he was killed. An abbot monk gives the actual skeleton to Tempe – and is shortly murdered thereafter. It seems someone thinks the skeleton may be that of Jesus Christ – and if so, it was found on Masada, long after his supposed crucifixion.

The book uses actual facts mixed in with the story, and a tomb near Masada was really found with bones attributed to Jesus' mother Mary and a number of siblings – causing immediate consternation in the Vatican and for a number of other Christians. For one thing, Masada is sacred to the Jews – what were any Christian types doing there?

Tempe's difficulties when she flies to Israel with Detective Andrew Ryan and archeologist Jake Drum increase with every new discovery she makes – and the controversy of her discoveries increase along with the threats to her own life and limb. She's additionally hampered by the Hevrat Kadisha, an ultra-orthodox Jewish group who insists that all Jewish bones must be buried immediately. What Tempe finds could ultimately affect billions of people – but what happens to her discovery is something I can't give away!

Kathy Reichs remains at the top of her expertise in Cross Bones with her protagonist Temperance Brennan – whose only serious rival is probably the fictional Kay Scarpetta, which is a whole different ball of wax. Cross Bones not only provides us with an inside look at Jerusalem (including areas and people to avoid), but Kathy Reichs additionally gives us interesting information in many other areas as well. Cross Bones raises questions about long-held religious beliefs, allowing insight into the constant, ongoing battle between science and faith. This book is a must for anyone at all interested in current events or archeological discoveries in Israel.

Alan Paul Curtis

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