I just realized that I hadn’t reviewed this after seeing it for another week in the top 10 of the New York Times best seller list. Oops. Well I will do my best to get this out. I did read it a few weeks ago but can remember how brill it was. From the beginning of this story you are transported to a Jane Austen novel. That probably sounds really goofy but it is true. You are just transported to that time and place and if you’ve ever seen any of the television productions you can immediately imagine the scenery too. Ms. James has done another great job but this is extraordinary. I literally re-read the first few pages as I couldn’t quite believe it. She is amazing. Anyone who has read Pride and Prejudice needs to read this even if you have never read a mystery or like the genre.

The author takes the main characters we know and love, and even those we love to hate, and tells the story of their lives in and around Pemberley. This is a mystery so there has to be some drama but I have to tell you it was so cool reading about Elizabeth and Darcy’s continuing relationship and how P.D. James assumes it went. I always hate to give away too much of the actual plot but someone dies on the grounds of Pemberley and Darcy immediately assumes responsibility of the body and informing the local magistrate. Some of the characters who made us all so mad in Pride and Prejudice rear their ugly heads once again and make life a misery for Darcy especially. Right now I just want to spill all the details but I really shouldn’t so I won’t do that.

Elizabeth’s sisters and parents also play somewhat of a part in this book. There is an annual ball at the house that Darcy’s parents handed over to he and Elizabeth so that is the backdrop of the main story line. So while the preparations continue for this gala, the decision has to be made on whether or not they should continue after a pretty gruesome death on the grounds. Elizabeth does see her family quite regularly but especially Jane who lives very close by and she comes and stays at the house to help with the ball. Again this is so fab to ‘catch up’ with Jane and all that she has been up to. I really could go on and on but gushing is so uncouth. Read this beautifully written book and really enjoy the countryside and character development. I know you will be pleased and feel as if you know Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth even better than before.

I don’t watch the television show ‘Bones’ but had been told that I would enjoy it by a couple of people. A mixture of mystery and interesting main characters and some autopsy thrown in for laughs. So this week I picked up one of Kathy Reichs’ books. After just one chapter I knew she had to be at least a coroner or medical examiner. It turns out this lady is brillianto! Fast moving, interesting stories as well as great character development and all that almost immediately. Hmmm. Seriously though, Reichs is not only an MD but also a PhD and really knows her stuff – i.e. forensic anthropology. I am sure she bases some of her stores on real life drama but no way real life moves this fast.

This book starts with what seems a domestic case but quickly accelerates into maybe a drug smuggling operation. People are disappearing left and right, especially those our ME wants to speak with. Our heroine, Temperance Brennan, is knows to all as Tempe. She is mother to an adult daughter and separated but not divorced from her husband. They all have seemingly good relationships and she socializes with her daughter quite frequently. Tempe’s romantic life is also highlighted in this story. The man in question travels between the US and Canada as does Tempe and on this visit she realizes she is serious about him. Her daughter invites them to a picnic where they fall upon yet another case which thwarts their plans to get away on holiday.

Her husband’s dog, which she is looking after for a few days, digs up some old bones at the aforementioned picnic. Kids are suitably traumatized and Tempe is back on the job. There is also the call from law enforcement about a small plane that went down in the middle of nowhere with at least two victims on board. The people are burned and unrecognizable but again Tempe is called in to do the forensics. A federal employee joins the scene and all of a sudden we have about three stories going at once. This seems like it would be hard to keep track but it really isn’t. This is written in a way that you don’t want to stop reading. Personally I liked the way her private life was woven in to the main themes as well.

I haven’t seen these books on the best seller list but that may just be an oversight on my part. These are well written and fun books. Tempe is very likeable and I definitely want to get more of these books and find out more. I may actually have to go and get the first season of Bones too.