DEVIL BONES

Linda Emond easily acclimates herself to Medical Examiner Temperance Brennan's well-known sleuthing style, portraying her empathy as well as her forensic gifts. Emond is an expert at reeling off a list of medical procedures with a mix of drama and aplomb and at portraying the resolve of a heroine who tiptoes around bureaucrats and a posturing preacher-turned-politician to do the best job she possible can. Brennan needs to muster all her skills for her eleventh mystery, which begins as several headless corpses of teenagers and dismembered body parts are discovered around Charlotte, North Carolina, and linked to some kind of alternative religion. Mixing accents and moods, Emond moves easily from high tension to snappy dialogue, from murders to Tempe's love issues. S.W. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2008]