Forensic Techniques In Bones To Ashes By Kathy Reichs

Kathy Reichs is on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and is certified as a forensic anthropologist by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. Much of her knowledge of forensic anthropology comes from personal experience, though she also consults other specialists in both her field and outside of it to ensure accuracy in her novels. Due to her experience and commitment to accuracy, Reich’s novels exemplify real forensic anthropology better than most fictional works. One of her novels, “Bones to Ashes” is a good example of this.

The novel starts out as a flashback, introducing Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist working with a cold case center in Montreal, via the mysterious disappearance of a

The victim is believed to be the sixth in a chain of serial murders dating back decades. This is also the introduction of love interest Andrew Ryan, an ex-beau of Brennan’s that works closely with her throughout the novel on this case. Brennan first cleans the cadaver by simmering the body parts in warm water for a period of time. While this is a legitimate forensic technique for defleshing, there are many arguments for and against water at such a high temperature. Once the bones are cleaned, Brennan talks through ancestry and aging with Ryan, using a narrow nasal opening, high nasal bridge, and shoveled incisors to argue that the victim was of mixed Asian/Native American and Caucasian ancestry. A fused basilar suture, non-emerged third molars, and partially fused iliac crests and medial clavicular epiphyses are used to indicate an age between 15 and 18 (39). An intact, though not completely ossified hyoid is used to argue that the possibility of strangulation is still on the table. These judgements are consistent with forensic anthropology, and the rapport with Ryan reveals much about their relationship and Ryan’s knowledge of forensic

Together, the sisters visit Obéline, Évangéline’s younger sister. Bastarache, a mobster owning a ring of strip clubs, is introduced as Obéline’s estranged husband. Évangéline’s family was always secretive about her disappearance and Obéline continues the tradition, leading Brennan to suspect Bastarache is connected to the disappearance. They leave the house with a book of poetry Brennan believes could have been written by Évangéline. A linguistic comparison between the book and a sample Harry had saved from childhood revealed not only that Évangéline was the author, but that the book of poetry had been written post-9/11, meaning Évangéline was either still alive or had died much more recently than had been