Abstract
Forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, Ph.D., earned her doctoral degree from Northwestern University and is an emeritus professor within the University of North Carolina Charlotte's (UNCC) Department of Anthropology (cur- rently on indefinite leave). Since 1997, she has woven her own case experiences and state-of-the-art technical knowledge of the process of reading bones into 1 3 crime novels, all of which are New York Times "bestsellers" (Reichs 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010). Her protagonist, Temperance Brennan, Ph.D., analyzes decomposing, putrefied, mummified, and skeletonized remains to identify victims of violent crimes and to determine when and how death occurred. Reichs intertwines each of Brennan' s adventures with threads of theory and practice from the subfields of biological anthropology and archaeology and seamlessly emboldens Brennan with comprehensive (but not wearisome) descriptions of the methods used. And in a quiet nod to cultural anthropology, Brennan' s victim, witness, and informant interviews are of- ten a key component in driving character development and moving the plot forward
