Cross Bones
by Kathy Reichs
Pocket Star Books, $90
The Sunday Times called Cross Bones 'a spirited rival' to The Da Vinci Code, but The Washington Post saw it as an apparent attempt to cash in on its popularity. It's hard not to make comparisons with Dan Brown's best-seller, especially as Kathy Reichs' novel also involves biblical mystery and murder. Reichs' forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan travels to Israel with Montreal detective Andrew Ryan after examining the corpse of an Orthodox Jew whose body is damaged in a strange way. Her curiosity is piqued by a photograph of a skeleton found 40 years ago during an archaeological dig in a place called Masada. Christian belief is at stake, which would normally increase the gravity of the story. But The Washington Post found that Reichs' characterisations undermined her hard research, and it poked fun at the 'unintentionally hilarious repartee' between Brennan and Ryan. According to USA Today, however, Reichs' Brennan is 'the lab lady most likely to dethrone Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta'. It's all in the detail, whoever claims the crown.