Bones to Ashes - Kathy Reichs

Under the microscope, the outer bone surface is a moonscape of craters.

The skeleton is that of a young girl, no more than fourteen years old – and forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan is struggling to keep her emotions in check.

A nagging in her subconscious won’t let up. A memory triggered, deep in her hindbrain – the disappearance of a childhood friend, no warning, no explanation.

Detective Andrew Ryan is working a series of parallel cases: three missing persons, three unidentified bodies – all female, all early-to-mid teens… Could Tempe’s skeleton be yet. another in this tragic line of young victims? Or is she over reacting, making connections where none exist?

Working on instinct, Tempe takes matters into her own hands. But even she couldn’t have predicted the horrors this investigation would eventually uncover… Can Tempe maintain a professional distance as the past catches up with her in this, her most deeply personal case yet?