The plot gets complicated when more bodies begin to turn up with some disturbing similarities.  Tempe's personal life gets complicated too when Pete, her not-quite-ex husband shows up with permission to stay at the same borrowed beach house where Tempe is lodged.  He's on the trail of a young girl who has disappeared. Then Ryan, her current flame from Montreal also shows up; he's been having problems with his young adult daughter, and needs some time with Tempe.  Sheriff Junius Gullet is an exciting new character who I would like to see in future Reichs novels...he's a corker.

When Tempe comes under attack from unknown assailants, and then Pete is shot through the kitchen window, the pressure to find the answers is ratcheted way up.

The Fox TV series Bones takes its inspiration from the Kathy Reichs novels, but nobody does Temperance Brennan like Reichs.  While I was a bit disappointed by Cross Bones, this story more than makes up for it.  It was definitely a "can't-put-down" book that kept me glued to the pages. The forensic detail and the level of psychological suspense in this book is outstanding; the conclusion exciting and satisfying.