CATEGORY

Temperance Brennan is helping her Guatemalan colleagues identify the remains of villagers who were "disappeared" 20 years ago when she's called in to consult on four more recent disappearances. Is there a serial killer loose in Guatemala City, or is the fate of the young women who've gone missing--including the daughter of the Canadian ambassador--connected to the murder of a human-rights investigator looking into the decades-old massacre? Brennan, the protagonist of Reichs's popular series, is literally hip-deep in intrigue, between the well in Chupan Ya where she unearths the bones of women and children slain in Guatemala's bloody civil war and the septic tank in the capital where the remains of one of the missing girls turn up. Tempe is a standout in crime fiction's crowded field of forensics experts--she's one of its more complex and interesting protagonists, dealing with intriguing cases that often cross national borders and a personal life that's rich in possibilities the author skillfully exploits. Tempe--and Reichs--just keep getting better. --Jane Adams