Can Grave Secrets Be Revealed via Analysis of Bare Bones? How Kathy Reichs's Fiction Novels Feed the Public Perception of Forensic Anthropology

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 (currently 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 13 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 often a key component in driving character development and moving the plot forward. Reichs's novels provide the public with a clear understanding of forensic anthropology. As a scholar-practitioner, Reichs's accounting of the thought process and technical steps implicit in skeletal analysis and case resolution is realistic as well as provocative. Although crime authors tend to pander to the reader by focusing on the seedier aspects of forensic cases, Reichs faithfully weaves the human condition into a rich tapestry of the living and dead through discovery, recovery, and analysis. Adapted from the source document.