Flesh
and Bone
A
Body Farm Mystery
Jefferson
Bass
William
Morrow (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-06-075983-6 (0060759836)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-075983-4 (9780060759834)
Publication Date: January 2007
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Dr. Bill Brockton, the founder of the world-famous Body
Farm at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is hard at work on a
troubling new case. A young man's battered body has been found in
nearby Chattanooga, and it's up to the talented Dr. Brockton to
assemble the pieces of the forensic puzzle. Brockton is brought into
the case by the rising star of the state's medical examiners, Jess
Carter.
Just as they're on the verge of breaking the case open, events take a
terrifying turn. Brockton has re-created the Chattanooga death scene at
the Body Farm, but a killer tampers with it in a shocking way: placing
another corpse at the setting, confusing authorities and putting
Brockton's career and life in jeopardy. Soon Brockton himself is
accused of the horrific new crime, and the once-beloved professor
becomes an outcast. As the net around him tightens, Brockton must use
all of his forensic skills to prove his own innocence ... before he
ends up behind bars with some of the very killers he's helped to
convict.
Review:
Dr. Bill Brockton takes on the role of the victim in Flesh and Bone,
the second mystery in the Body Farm series by Jefferson Bass
(co-authors Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson).
While working on a case with Chattanooga medical examiner Jess Carter,
Brockton suddenly finds himself accused of a gruesome murder. His truck
was videotaped entering the Body Farm just prior to when and where the
victim was found, and forensic evidence conclusively links Brockton
with the victim. Hiring his sometime legal adversary but arguably the
most successful defense attorney in town as his lawyer, Brockton
manages to stay out of jail. Suspended by the university, unable to
work on any cases, and convinced that the authorities aren't looking
for the real killer, he sets out to prove his innocence with the
assistance of a friend in the police department.
Flesh
and Bone is an entertaining
mystery, even considering the descriptions of dead and decaying bodies
that are included every chapter or so. Consider this, reasonably
typical, passage: "The head had been simmering for three days down in
the Annex before I took it out of the kettle for good. The hot water,
bleach, Biz, Downy, and Adolph's Meat Tenderizer had doen their work
well: the remaining bits of tissue scrubbed off easily with a
toothbrush; the bone had lightened to a deep ivory; and the aroma
steaming off of it was like fresh laundry." Of course, he goes on to
qualify the definition of "fresh". Since the Body Farm is a real place,
and Dr. Bill Brockton is based on a real person (one of the
co-authors), there are a lot of authentic details included in this
book. Brockton dismisses the fictional Hollywood version of his
profession ("... CSI, a show I'd watched only one incredulous time
..."), but ironically seems accepting of the fictional literary version.
Behind all the science, however, is a fairly weak and at times
incredible plot. Flesh and Bone
opens with two parallel, and ultimately related but not necessarily
linked, investigations: the murder of a man found tied to a tree and
dressed in women's clothing, and a child pornography case being worked
on by Brockton's friend, Art Bohanan of the Knoxville Police
Department. Add to this a third investigation when Brockton is arrested
for murder. Brockton's prowess in the laboratory and on the Body Farm
to discover the truth apparently doesn't extend to solving his own
personal dilemma. He stumbles through the story, tripping over obvious
clues, and even after unwittingly inviting the killer into his home,
Brockton still doesn't get it ... until a gun is pointed at his head.
Forensic mysteries are popular, both on television and in bookstores,
and despite a less than satisfactory storyline, it's likely readers
will enjoy Flesh
and Bone.
Special thanks to HarperCollins for providing a copy of Flesh and Bone for this review.
Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Flesh and Bone? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
Carved
in Bone
William Morrow (Hardcover), February 2006
ISBN-10: 0-06-075981-X (006075981X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-075981-0 (9780060759810)
Flesh and Bone
William Morrow (Hardcover), January 2007
ISBN-10: 0-06-075983-6 (0060759836)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-075983-4 (9780060759834)
The
Devil's Bones
William Morrow (Hardcover), February 2008
ISBN-10: 0-06-075985-2 (0060759852)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-075985-8 (9780060759858)
Bones
of Betrayal
William Morrow (Hardcover), February 2009
ISBN-10: 0-06-128474-2 (0061284742)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-128474-8 (9780061284748)
Omnimystery
keywords for Flesh and Bone
...
Location(s) referenced: Knoxville,
Chattanooga, Tennessee.
