Cold, Cold Bones

Kathy Reichs

Introduction

Winter has come to North Carolina and, with it, a drop in crime. Freed from a heavy work schedule, Tempe Brennan is content to dote on her daughter, Katy, but their peaceful idyll is interrupted when they find a box on the back porch. Inside: a very fresh human eyeball with GPS coordinates etched into it. The directions lead to a macabre discovery behind a Benedictine monastery—which brings further revelations involving a series of seemingly unconnected violent murders.

Unconnected until Tempe realizes what they all have in common: a resemblance to her own previous cases. Tempe is at a loss to establish what is going on . . . and then her daughter disappears.

At its core, Cold, Cold Bones is a novel of revenge—one in which revisiting the past may prove the only way to unravel the present.

Topics & Questions for Discussion

1. The book opens with Tempe helping her daughter, Katy, move into her new home after recently finishing a career in the military, which included episodes of combat. What do you notice about the ways that Katy and Tempe treat each other? How does their relationship affect the course of the book?

2. Katy decides to volunteer at a local shelter for unhoused veterans while looking for some community. Tempe is wary of the veterans there and suspects them first when Katy begins to act erratically and doesn’t answer her phone. What first arouses her suspicions? How do Tempe’s feelings color the audience’s perception of the shelter? How might Tempe’s reaction to Katy’s decision reflect the attitudes of the rest of their community?

3. On page 51, Katy asks her mother if she knows how many people are unhoused in the United States, then informs her there are “over half a million. Roughly nine thousand right here in North Carolina. Around forty thousand of that national number are vets.” How does Katy’s disgust with the treatment of people who have served sit with Tempe? What does she make of her daughter’s opinions? Do you think her reaction contributes to Katy’s distance?

4. Tempe’s phone is both a lifeline and a source of fear and suspense. Ryan is often unreachable because of cell service and bad weather, Charlie sends a few cryptic messages before he dies, and Katy begins refusing phone calls. How does each situation erode Tempe’s sense of safety? How does Tempe’s being cut off from others serve the killer’s motives?

5. On page 217, Tempe’s investigation of the hit-and-run victim sparks a powerful emotional reaction, one that she seems to be alone in experiencing. “Many males are embarrassed in the presence of strong female emotion. Most have mastered the art of nonreaction.” Why do you think Tempe was the only one who had this reaction?

6. Tempe handles a great deal of violence on a regular basis. Do some research about the number of medical professionals who are later diagnosed with PTSD, the same condition that Katy suffers from. Why do you think Tempe is unwilling to link her condition with that of her daughter? In what ways is the justice system in the United States like a warzone?

7. Cold, Cold Bones is a story of vengeance against Tempe for mistakes she’d made in the past. Despite not being an investigator or an officer of any kind, Tempe has a great deal of influence. In the course of investigating this case, how many people does Tempe suspect? How many people does she involve incidentally in a serial killer investigation?

8. On page 361, Slidell is allowed to press a suspect who doesn’t have anything to do with the case to coerce a confession out of him. Look into the unreliability of confessions given under duress. How often do police push people to confess to things they didn’t do?

Enhance Your Book Club

1. Cold, Cold Bones alludes to many of Tempe’s prior cases. Try reading past Temperance Brennan adventures like Bones Never Lie, Break No Bones, and Bones of the Lost. How are the mysteries in these books reprised in some form in Cold, Cold Bones?

2. Were you able to put together the clues in Cold, Cold Bones to identify the killer in advance of Tempe’s figuring it out? What were some of the leads you followed? When did you crack the case?