Flesh and Bone: A Body Farm Novel

All thru the book I kept trying to guess the right one but I was wrong once again everytime. Made sense when came to light. Very good suspense! On to The Devils Bones!

Very good book to read if are into forensic science, and murder mysteries. I would recommend this book to all CSI fans out there.

Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson have done it again. While this is a fiction novel, much of it includes the truths of the body farm, forensics, and forensic anthropology. A truly excellent read!

"Flesh and Blood" is the sequel to the writing team Jefferson Bass' first fictional work, "Carved in Bone." 'Jefferson Bass' is a pseudonym from Dr. William Bass, the famed forensic anthropologist and writer of "Death's Acre" (a non-fiction autobiography and excellent treatise on forensic anthropology) and Jon Jefferson, who worked with Dr. Bass producing "Death's Acre" and two National Geographic documentaries on the Body Farm. "Flesh and Bone" takes up close to where its predecessor, "Carved in Bone" leaves off. Dr. Bill Brockton and his faithful GA assistant, Miranda, are setting up an experiment on the Body Farm. Their goal is to reproduce a gory murder of a young may they believe to be a hate crime against homosexuals. By reproducing the crime using a donated cadaver, they are hoping to clearly establish the time of death of a young man left hanging in a tree dressed in drag paraphenalia and brutally mutilated. As the story goes on, Dr. Brockton and Dr. Jess Carter, the Chattanooga, TN Medical Examiner, are getting much closer. It looks like Dr. Brockton may stand a chance at love after 2 years missing his deceased wife. Of course, not all things are going smoothly. A classroom lecture gone somewhat awry, ends up with Dr. Brockton having to defend himself against creationists, mirroring the infamous 'Scopes Monkey Trial' which happened only a few miles from Knoxville in Dayton, TN. Some would call this plotline 'unnecessary' but I think it's very timely and interesting--considering this week an East Coast teacher was fired under accusations of witchcraft--for teaching counter to the views of her principal. But the situation decomposes much faster than the bodies--when the crime scene mockup is tampered with, Dr. Brockton is the prime suspect for murder. As the stories hurdles on, Brockton's job, family, even his life are all at stake. "Flesh and Bone" is a fast-paced and very real look at the life of a forensic anthropologist. The only fault I can find with the book is that it's perhaps 'too real.' The commonalities between Dr. Brockton and Dr. William Bass are just too similar to be missed and in this reviewer's opinion, show some lack of imagination. Art Bohannon, the Knoxville Police Department fingerprint expert and childrens' advocate, is really Art Bohannon and names of people credited with helping the team in some way were only changed slightly--if at all. "Carved in Bone" depicted a situation in an East TN county that was very similar to reality. "Flesh and Bone" did go a step further--taking real situations and bending them to work in the book. In "Flesh and Bone" we look at the judicial system from the point of view of the Defense, which definitely is a twist from the noted criminalist's usual position. That showed imagination and a whole lot of research. Well done, gentlemen--I hope to see book three very soon.

This book was GREAT!!!!!! Jefferson Bass did a wonderful job in developing the story line and characters......I could not put the book down until I finished it.

Dr. Bill Bass, is the legendary forensic anthropologist who founded the University of Tennessee's Body Farm, the world's first laboratory devoted to the study of human body decomp. Dr. Bass has once again teamed up with his writing partner, journalist Jon Jefferson (pseudonym: Jefferson Bass) for another thrilling suspense. When a man is found hung from a tree, it is up to Dr. Bill Brockton to discover who this unfortunate man is and why he was so brutally murdered. Dr. Brockton and the Chattanooga medical examiner Jessamine Carter are thrown together to work on this case. Dr. Brockton, a widower and Carter who is divorced become romantically involved. Jess Carter is found murdered and of course Dr. Bill Brockton is the one who discovers her body, becoming the prime suspect in her murder. Dr. Brockton now has to use his own skills to prove his innocence before he is sent to jail, where some of the men he helped convict are housed. "Flesh And Bone" is a great novel that offers romance, mystery and forensic science. The plot is intriguing, the characters are believable, and it brims with terrific forensic detail, solid science and a lovable protagonist. The team of Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson have created another great novel in the series, (this is the second in the series, the first was "Carved In Bone") and there are plans to continue the series. So the fans of this genre you need to be sure and add the writing team known as Jefferson Bass to your list. This is a must read.

Once again we meet Dr. Bill Brockton - whom we met in Carved in Bone - and his continued research at the Body Farm - Where Carved introduced the characters, Flesh gives them depth. Deals with murder, controversy, and reversal of fortune. Amidst this intensity, there is humor - my favorite character, Art, Brockton's best bud, adds much needed laughs in the book, especially after the intense opening of the book. But it is his steadfast friendship with Bill that remains steadfast and wish we could all have such a friend. We meet another character who I certainly hope will have a recurring role in sequels, Miss Georgia. Flesh continues the excellence of Carved and fans certainly will be looking forward to the next in the series. A great read.