Book Review – The Bone Collection

by Kathy Reichs (Random House) ISBN: 978-1-78-515096-8

I picked this book by mistake. My mistake. I based my selection on the author, Kathy Reichs, a steady personal favourite. I did not read the blurb on the back cover; I did not read the first page of the book, nor the last, nor any of the pages in between. I trusted Kathy to deliver. I settled down to enjoy my read only to discover, closing in on the first 70 pages, thinking, this is wrapping up rapidly, where is she going with the story, that this is a short story collection.

I do not read short stories. Not since being subjected to a whole collection of Guy de Maupassant at the tender age of 15. I closed the book and put it down. That C word should have clued me in: Collection. I picked it up again because a review had to be written. Might as well give it a fair go. Which turned the disappointment into a rare pleasure. Not so rare that I have changed my mind about short stories, only that I have forgiven Kathy Reichs.

It was a lot of fun getting to know Tempe Brennan grow into the character we have all come to recognise in Kathy’s books and the TV show. There is no shortage of style, no scrimping of character portrayal, no compromise on plot lines; only a reduction in page turns.

For those who don’t have the luxury of time or staying power to read a full length novel, but are hooked on mystery stories, this is the book for you. For little more than an hour a night you get four gripping stories read in under a week. No matter the length of the tale, Kathy Reichs delivers.

Julie Suddaby
4.5/5

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