Thursday, February 18, 2010

Review Thursday: Fiction Quick Picks

Forensic Fiction: If You Like CSI....Then Try These

Virgin Lies by Roderick Anscombe. (2007)

After the death of their young son in an auto accident, forensic psychiatrist Paul Lucas is desperate to restore his faltering marriage to his wife, Abby. When Abby calls to say that an eight-year-old girl has been abducted from her agency, Paul rushes to help.


The Chemistry of Death by Simon Beckett. (2006)

Forensic anthropologist Dr. David Hunter moves to a rural British village hoping to escape his tragic past. Instead, the young widower is reluctantly pressed into using his crime-solving medical specialty when a serial killer begins to prey on local women.


Unnatural Selection by Aaron Elkins. (2006)

Forensics professor Gideon Oliver, known as the “skeleton detective,” accompanies his park ranger wife, Julie, to a conference on an island off the British coast. All signs point to murder when Gideon explores a little-visited Neolithic sight, and a not-so-Neolithic bone turns up.


The Fourth Sacrifice by Peter May. (2007)

A request from the American ambassador puts forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell’s imminent departure from China on hold when a series of execution-style decapitations claim a fourth victim, a Chinese-American man employed by the U.S. Campbell and Beijing deputy section chief Li Yan join forces on the difficult investigation.


Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs. (2006)

While supervising a dig of Native American burial grounds on the Charleston, South Carolina shore, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan stumbles upon a fresh skeleton among the ancient bones. Her old friend Emma Rousseau, the local coroner, persuades her to stay on and help with the investigation.

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