William Morrow, 2008
The Devil's Bones is the third in a series of CSI-style mysteries from the nom de plume, Jefferson Bass. "Jefferson" is Jon Jefferson, a journalist and writer who has been published in the New York Times, Newsweek, and Popular Science. A documentary filmmaker, he is the writer and producer of two National Geographic documentaries about the Body Farm. "Bass" is Dr. Bill Bass, the founder of the very real Body Farm, the University of Tennessee's Anthropology Research Facility. He has authored over two hundred scientific articles. He and Jefferson co-authored his memoir, Death's Acre, about the founding of the Body Farm. They are as solid a writing team as Charles Todd.
It's a sweltering evening atop a rocky top just outside Knoxville, Tennessee. Dr. Bill Brockton, the eponymous Bill Bass, and his team are burning two cars in order to determine the effects of fire on the cadavers and assorted amputated limbs inside. Except for the small matter of forgetting to remove the fuel tanks and their residual gasoline fumes, the experiment is a success and leads to the apprehension and confession of a murderer.
The Devil's Bones is the third in a series of CSI-style mysteries from the nom de plume, Jefferson Bass. "Jefferson" is Jon Jefferson, a journalist and writer who has been published in the New York Times, Newsweek, and Popular Science. A documentary filmmaker, he is the writer and producer of two National Geographic documentaries about the Body Farm. "Bass" is Dr. Bill Bass, the founder of the very real Body Farm, the University of Tennessee's Anthropology Research Facility. He has authored over two hundred scientific articles. He and Jefferson co-authored his memoir, Death's Acre, about the founding of the Body Farm. They are as solid a writing team as Charles Todd.
It's a sweltering evening atop a rocky top just outside Knoxville, Tennessee. Dr. Bill Brockton, the eponymous Bill Bass, and his team are burning two cars in order to determine the effects of fire on the cadavers and assorted amputated limbs inside. Except for the small matter of forgetting to remove the fuel tanks and their residual gasoline fumes, the experiment is a success and leads to the apprehension and confession of a murderer.
In a novel with as much description of blood, gore, adipose tissue, and forensics as any thing that Cornwell, Deaver, or Reichs might share, Dr. Brockton, the narrator of this tale, never fails to engage our interest and our credulity. Three deaths are the focus here. The first is related to the experiment mentioned above. A wife has apparently died in a fire in her car while her husband is well out of town. He remains the primary suspect. Dr. Jess Carter, a former colleague and lover, had been murdered a few months previously, and now the murderer has escaped from jail while awaiting trial. Her murderer, Garland Hamilton, was a former medical examiner who botched an examination that would have sent an innocent man to jail had Brockton not discovered and corrected the error. The final death was that of Jean, aunt to Burt DeVreiss, the sleazy attorney who had defended Brockton when he had been wrongly accused of Jess' murder.
Jefferson Bass skillfully interweaves these three deaths and their repercussions on Brockton. He is an extremely focused forensic anthropologist who has no idea what MySpace.com and YouTube.com are, and barely understands Google.com. However, he knows that his research assistant, Miranda Lovelady, is able to quickly find information he needs in solving the crimes involved.
Jefferson Bass skillfully interweaves these three deaths and their repercussions on Brockton. He is an extremely focused forensic anthropologist who has no idea what MySpace.com and YouTube.com are, and barely understands Google.com. However, he knows that his research assistant, Miranda Lovelady, is able to quickly find information he needs in solving the crimes involved.
The crime associated with Aunt Jean's death is one that we are familiar with nationally. Just a few years ago, a crematory operator in Noble, Georgia was discovered to have failed to cremate bodies entrusted to his care. Literally hundreds of bodies piled up on his property and in his pond. The search for the truth in this fictionalized account is masterful. We learn all we need to know about the cremation process, including the dangers of trying to cremate an obese body too quickly. Of course, some of the details are grisly, especially at the site of the bad crematorium, but aren't we looking for the grisly details in this genre?
The Devil's Bones effectively captures the geography and character of the area around Knoxville, where most of the novel occurs, and the campus of the University of Tennessee. Both the fictional and real Anthropology Research Facility are housed in Neyland Stadium. It is ironic that on fall Saturdays more than 100,000 screaming, very lively fans crowd into this fabled stadium just above hundreds of skeletons that have given their all to science. We travel down real streets and meet real people. The real Helen Taylor, for example, runs the East Tennessee Cremation Services while Lisa Wells and Donna Rosa of the Volunteer Rescue Ministry work with homeless people. These are just three of a number of portraits that, shorter or longer, are nicely drawn portraits of the parts their characters play in the novel. Detective Art Bohanan is the most extended character; he has played a central role in each of the three novels. A page identifying the skeleton and two identifying the bones and parts of the skull are helpful for those of us who have forgotten our high school biology.
Those who might be interested in the field of forensic anthropology may wish to check out the University of Tennessee's site. Jefferson Bass's Web site offers you a brief tour of the Body Farm.
Those who might be interested in the field of forensic anthropology may wish to check out the University of Tennessee's site. Jefferson Bass's Web site offers you a brief tour of the Body Farm.
