Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass, first in A Body Farm Novel series

It is two years since Dr. Bill Brockton's wife Kathleen died, and he is still immersed in grief and guilt. Written in the first person, the reader immediately becomes connected with the character. His only life in the past two years has been devoted to his work as a Forensic Anthropologist and Anthropology professor.  Now, he has been called upon to assist his nemesis as an expert witness in proving a client innocent of a murder for which Bill believes he was mistakenly sentenced.

In the meantime, a long-dead body has been discovered in a cave, bringing with it a some serious questions. Dr. Brockton is brought in by the Sheriff to assist in the case, which becomes more tricky as the investigation goes on, even though the body is quickly identified.  The very core of the County is about to be turned upside-down.

I love the dialogues, whichever of the two authors who make up Jefferson Bass does the humour I'd certainly like to meet. The "gallows" humour that keeps our sanity when we live with trauma or see so much of it is very well done. I also enjoyed the dialogue including forensic anthropologist characters from other authors' series as real people our protagonist knows, even in one case speaking of a visit from  the author of the Temperance Brennan series, Kathy Reichs, touring the Body Farm.  These, along with wonderful characterizations, are some of the things that make Bass' books so believable.

There are lots of suspects, lots of twists and turns, dead ends, and a double whammy to hit the reader toward the end of the book, but even that isn't the last surprise. So what are we left with?  A satisfying lead into the beginning of what promises to be a continuing adventure into the heart, soul and mystery of crime-solving forensic anthropology.

See also my review for the third book in the series, The Devil's Bones.