DVD Review: Bones (the series)

Bones
(DVD Bones)

This is a procedural crime mystery series that ran on Fox television 2005-2017. The show follows Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist, and her team from the fictional Jeffersonian Institute in Washington, DC, as they work with FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth as they solve crimes, both Cold Case and recent. We also become involved in their personal lives.

 

The TV series is based on the Temperance Brennan book series by Kathy Reichs, herself a forensic anthropologist. There are currently 21 novels and several short stories in the written series, but be warned, the TV series departs from the books.

 

The series is fast-paced, full of scientific terms and fascinating procedures, as well as interesting mysteries. Be prepared to see a lot of bones, blood, and tissue but none of it is gratuitous and you will learn much about the scientific process – who knew a science lab could be so interesting? There is also much humor (but not as a tool to ridicule the characters) as the science-based staff, especially Brennan, are frequently flummoxed by pop culture and their awkwardness with social skills.

 

Starring Emily Deschanel (“Cold Mountain,” “The Alamo,” “Glory Road”) as Temperance “Bones” Brennan and David Boreanaz (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel,” “SEAL Team”) as Booth, these two actors – as well as the entire cast – gave us characters who formed a family while solving interesting murders using science. It’s apparent that Bones and Booth are the main characters, but the secondary characters are equally important to the storylines, and to the audience.

 

I highly recommend this entertaining series for its humor, intelligence, mysteries, and cast of characters. The library owns all twelve seasons on DVD.

 

(The novels by Kathy Reichs that this TV series was inspired by are available in print and audiobook formats.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this series ) | ( official Bones Facebook page )

 

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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Cruel & Unusual by Patricia Cornwell

Cruel & Unusual
by Patricia Cornwell

I’ve been reading mysteries and thrillers since the 1970s, and I was surprised to consider that I had never read of Patricia Cornwell’s series featuring coroner Kay Scarpetta, until the libraries’ Just Desserts mystery book discussion group discussed Cruel & Unusual, the fourth in the series, for our final meeting of 2016. Cornwell, with the Scarpetta series, is credited with being one of the authors to popularize the mystery sub-genre focusing on coroner and forensic work, long before TV shows like CSI and Bones became huge hits (although Quincy, M.E., with Jack Klugman, ran on NBC from 1976 to 1982).

In the Scarpetta novels, the private life and relationships of Scarpetta, her co-workers and her relatives, take has much priority as the mystery-solving. This is particularly the case in Cruel & Unusual, where partway through the book it is apparent that coroner Scarpetta is being set up to take the fall in some shady dealings in the medical examiner’s office. Supporting characters like homicide detective Pete Marino, FBI profiler Benton Wesley, and Kay’s tech-savvy niece Lucy Farinelli (a brilliant but anti-social 17-year-old in this novel), all serve as major supporting characters in this volume. The plot of Cruel & Unusual was pretty straight-forward, but I did find myself getting interested in the characters and their lives. While Scarpetta herself almost seemed “too good to be true”, she was also quite a flawed character, which made me care a little bit more about her and her fate. All in all, I’d call this a strong mystery/thriller, although there is such character development in each volume that it would be best to start this series at the beginning, with 1990’s Postmortem.

[ official Patricia Cornwell web site ]

See other titles and authors read by the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group on the Just Desserts archives

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver

The Bone Collector
by Jeffery Deaver

Lincoln Rhyme is a former head of the NYPD forensics dept but, due to an accident at his last crime scene three-and-a-half years ago, he is a quadriplegic from the shoulders down. Emotionally unable to continue with his life as it is, he has finally located a euthanasia group willing to assist him in his "self-deliverance." But at the last minute, former colleagues entice him with one last case. A couple got into a yellow cab from the airport but never made it home. The man is found murdered, but obscure clues found at his crime scene point the direction to the woman's location. If Rhyme can decipher the clues and get the authorities there in time, she can be rescued. At the second scene are clues for a third victim, and at the third scene are clues for locating a fourth, and on it builds. Some of them are rescued, and others, well... Sometimes a procedural mystery is dry and boring, but this one is fascinating as you watch them sift through the clues and their possible meanings. Over the course of the weekend, it becomes clear that the roots of the killer and his behavior are a part of Rhyme's past. This is the first book in the Lincoln Rhyme series, with the eleventh title released just last May. A riveting mystery with interesting characters. -- recommended by Charlotte K. - Bennett Martin Public Library [ see Charlotte's Reviewer Profile and more of her reviews ]

[ official Jeffery Deaver web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

The Killer of Little Shepherds

The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science
by Douglas Starr [364.152 Sta]

If you're a fan of CSI, here is the beginnings of real forensic science during the late 1800s in France where science and technology is used to track down and convict a serial murderer. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum, and The Murder Room: The Heirs of Sherlock Holmes Gather to Solve the World's Most Perplexing Cold Cases by Michael Capuzzo.] -- recommended by Sandy W. - Gere Branch Library

[Also available in downloadable audio and downloadable E-book formats.]

[ publisher's official Killer of Little Shepherds web site ] | [ official Douglas Starr web site ]

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Da Vinci's Inquest

Da Vinci's Inquest

This is a superb police procedural series produced for Canadian television, which has aired in syndication here in the U.S. Nicholas Campbell headlines a fantastic ensemble cast as a coroner who frequently gets involved in ongoing police investigations and often goes up against the Machiavellian nuances of his city government's bureaucracy. This series is gritty, realistic, and features a fast and sometimes frenetic pace. At times, Da Vinci's Inquest feels like a fluid mixing of the styles of Hill St. Blues mixed with the forensics of CSI, with a little of Law & Order's courtroom drama thrown in for good measure. The writing, acting and production design are all top-notch, and the series only got better as it went along. Powerful storytelling here, for anyone who's a fan of police and/or coroner-themed mystery series. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ Internet Movie Database page for this film ] [ official Da Vinci's Inquest web site ]

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Staff Recommendation - Carved in Bone

Carved in Bone

by Jefferson Bass

Jefferson Bass is the pseudonym of Bill Bass, the creator of the original Body Farm. This title is the first in a projected series that will appeal to lovers of forensic mysteries. -- recommended by Rayma S. -- South Branch Library

[ Publisher's Carved in Bone web site ] [ official Jefferson Bass web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.