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FLESH AND BONE is exactly the tonic I needed to rattle myself out of the boredom of too many indistinguishable cozies with giggling, neurotic leads. Fast-paced and juggling multiple plots, this second installment in the Body Farm series starts out swinging, dumps a series of intelligent problems in the reader's lap to puzzle out, and builds to a literally explosive climax a satisfying number of pages later. (Another growing pet peeve of mine is novellas masquerading as novels.) Bisected into "Before" and "After" sections, "Before" shows things going well for anthropology professor Bill Brockton. He has an intriguing case about a cross-dressing corpse to duplicate, and his tentative flirtations with medical examiner Jess Carter are moving forward, if slowly. The only problems on his horizon are minor irritants - having to testify against a colleague whose medical examiner license is on the line, and the Kansas State Board of Education's decision to undermine the teaching of evolution. (This is a true event worked into the plot.) The first he gets through as professionally as possible. The second is the subject of a scathing lecture reproduced in the book on "unintelligent" design that goes over well with all but one of the students. To Brockton's irritation, his incompetent colleague is only suspended. To his university's consternation, Brockton and the entire university are sued for religious discrimination. Then the mother of the real corpse - the one being duplicated on Body Farm grounds - shows up furious about her son's murder and its circumstances, attacking Brockton and Carter violently in her attempt to take the corpse home with her. And this is all Before. Before Dr. Carter is found dead, her corpse defiled on Body Farm grounds. There are plenty of suspects. The mother. Jess's ex-husband, who interrupted a date between her and Brockton. The unidentified man who left obscene threats on Jess's answering machine. But all the mounting evidence points straight at Dr. Brockton himself. I was lukewarm about the first of the Body Farm novels, but FLESH AND BONE is fantastic. Late in the book there are a couple of missteps - Dr. Brockton has no right to be snide about CSI being unrealistic and then setting up a situation where one murder suspect is interrogates another one - and the identity of the killer isn't that hard to figure out. But the ride the rest of the way is worth it. It's been a long time since I've read a book as quickly and eagerly as this. FLESH AND BONE is a highly recommended read for anyone who enjoys science, forensics, and hardboiled police procedures - plus, the anti-Intelligent Design lawsuit is described well enough to intrigue legal thriller fans and anyone who has kept an eye on Dover v. Kitzmiller and other real cases.
Reviewed by Linnea Dodson, April 2008
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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