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.

So can Ms. Plum get any sillier? The beginning of this book starts with somewhat of a mystery. Apparently Stephanie has been to Hawaii and Ranger was there. Hmmm. But then we find out she ran away, and went home to New Jersey and won’t tell anyone any details. So we are left in the dark. Well we find out eventually but she definitely keeps quiet for a long time, much to the chagrin of Lula who tries to get any information out in any way possible. This book has the usual FTAs which our bounty hunter extraordinaire has to find and they are just as incredulous as ever. She actually has one who is morbidly obese but he still manages to not only get away from Stephanie and Lula but also to steal her car. Then we get to her love life and she is not speaking to either of her beaus. We don’t find that out for a while either but it is pretty interesting as Evanovich writes exactly what Stephanie is thinking most of the time and it is pretty messed up.

There is a reason this series is consistently in the top 10 of the best seller list. They are fun, quick reads which have a light story line that is easy to follow. Meanwhile back at the ranch or the home she grew up in, her mother is still trying to keep the peace along with great meals daily. Her father still grunts every time any of the women say anything and her grandmother has a new friend who is into potions including love potion. Grandmother thinks it is time for Stephanie to pick a man and settle down and she has just the potion for making that decision.

As you can imagine what ensues is hilarious and ridiculous all at once. Stephanie is once again taken to viewings at the local undertakers with her grandmother as well. It is the best entertainment in town apparently but this one is of interest to Stephanie too. They are trying to gather information about someone and actually attend a service. Grandma Mazur is used to crashing funerals so this is no big deal, in fact she relishes it. What a bunch of nutters!

As I write this the film based on the first book about Ms. Plum is due to be released soon and I am looking forward to seeing how well they do with that. Stephanie’s shoes aren’t that hard to fill but I think we all have an idea of how she looks and behaves and hopefully we won’t be disappointed with the way she is portrayed. Regardless report will follow the movie and we can dish about that.