Jesse Stone
mystery
Series · mystery
Temperance Brennan
The Temperance Brennan series by Kathy Reichs has 28 known books (28 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Déjà Dead (1997).
- Books
- 28 known books (24 novels + 3 short stories + 1 collection)
- Published
- 28
- First published
- 1997
- Status
- ongoing
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime
- Last checked
Start here: Déjà Dead (1997) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Déjà Dead
Déjà Dead (1997) opens the Temperance Brennan series, introducing the forensic anthropologist splitting her working life between Montreal and North Carolina. At 509 pages, it establishes the technical authenticity — real bone science and lab procedure, courtesy of author Kathy Reichs's own forensic-anthropology career — that later inspired the TV series Bones.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Déjà Dead - Book 2:
Death du Jour
Death du Jour (1999), 400 pages, is the second Temperance Brennan novel, following Déjà Dead and preceding Deadly Decisions. Kathy Reichs continues grounding Tempe's cases in the trauma, age and cause-of-death readings a real forensic anthropologist would perform on skeletal remains.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Death du Jour - Book 3:
Deadly Decisions
Deadly Decisions (2000), 360 pages, is the third entry, sitting between Death du Jour and Fatal Voyage. This early in the series, Tempe's uneasy romance with Quebec homicide detective Andrew Ryan and her recovering-alcoholic backstory are still developing alongside the forensic casework.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Deadly Decisions - Book 4:
Fatal Voyage
Fatal Voyage (2001), 403 pages, followed Deadly Decisions and preceded Grave Secrets as the fourth Temperance Brennan novel. Kathy Reichs keeps moving her forensic puzzles through new territory here, book to book, while Tempe's personal life continues to develop in the background.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Fatal Voyage - Book 5:
Grave Secrets
Grave Secrets (2002) is the fifth entry at 336 pages, following Fatal Voyage. It continues the series' pattern of sending Tempe into war-crime and cold-case territory that draws directly on Kathy Reichs's own forensic-anthropology expertise.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Grave Secrets - Book 6:
Bare Bones
Bare Bones (2003), 382 pages, sits between Grave Secrets and Monday Mourning as the sixth Temperance Brennan novel. Reading in publication order matters here, since Tempe's relationship with Andrew Ryan and her bond with daughter Katy carry forward continuously across the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Bare Bones - Book 7:
Monday Mourning
Monday Mourning (2004), 345 pages, is the seventh entry, following Bare Bones and preceding Cross Bones. It continues Kathy Reichs's practice of grounding every case in real bone science rather than the more stylized forensics of a show like CSI.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Monday Mourning - Book 8:
Cross Bones
Cross Bones (2005), 439 pages, is the eighth Temperance Brennan novel, arriving between Monday Mourning and Break No Bones. By now the series has settled into its established rhythm of self-contained cases layered over Tempe's continuously developing personal life.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Cross Bones - Book 9:
Break No Bones
Break No Bones (2006), 352 pages, followed Cross Bones and preceded Bones to Ashes as the ninth entry. Kathy Reichs, herself a practicing forensic anthropologist, continues rendering the identification of skeletal remains with the technical authenticity that set the template for the modern forensic-procedural boom.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Break No Bones - Book 10:
Bones to Ashes
Bones to Ashes (2007), 388 pages, is the tenth Temperance Brennan novel, following Break No Bones and preceding Devil Bones. It carries forward Tempe's ongoing romance with Andrew Ryan alongside another case built on real forensic procedure.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Bones to Ashes - Book 11:
Devil Bones
Devil Bones (2008), 315 pages, is the eleventh entry, sitting between Bones to Ashes and 206 Bones. Kathy Reichs continues sending Tempe's forensic expertise into new territory — this time cult activity is part of the case, one of the recurring threads across the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Devil Bones - Book 12:
206 Bones
206 Bones (2009), 515 pages, is the twelfth Temperance Brennan novel, following Devil Bones and preceding Spider Bones. The title nods to the number of bones in the human skeleton, in keeping with the series' close attention to real bone science.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of 206 Bones - Book 13:
Spider Bones
Spider Bones (2010), 320 pages, is the thirteenth entry, arriving between 206 Bones and Flash and Bones. It continues the series' long-running back-and-forth between Tempe's work in Montreal and North Carolina.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Spider Bones - Book 14:
Flash and Bones
Flash and Bones (2011), 278 pages, is the fourteenth Temperance Brennan novel, following Spider Bones and preceding Bones Are Forever. Tempe's rivalry with fellow anthropologist colleagues and her bond with daughter Katy continue developing here, part of the steady personal-life arc Kathy Reichs threads through the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Flash and Bones - Book 15:
Bones Are Forever
Bones Are Forever (2012), 335 pages, is the fifteenth entry, following Flash and Bones and preceding Bones of the Lost. It continues the series' pattern of moving Tempe's forensic puzzles through serial-killer and trafficking cases alongside her ongoing relationship with Andrew Ryan.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Bones Are Forever - Book 16:
Bones of the Lost
Bones of the Lost (2013), 336 pages, is the sixteenth Temperance Brennan novel, following Bones Are Forever and preceding the novella Bones in Her Pocket. Kathy Reichs keeps grounding the case in real bone science and lab procedure, the technical authenticity that distinguishes the series from more stylized TV-style forensics.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Bones of the Lost - Book 17:
Bones in Her Pocket
Bones in Her Pocket (2013) is a 120-page novella sitting between Bones of the Lost and Bones Never Lie, one of the optional .5-numbered side stories in the Temperance Brennan series. It's not required for the main plot but was later collected, alongside the other novellas, in The Bone Collection.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Bones in Her Pocket - Book 18:
Bones Never Lie
Bones Never Lie (2014), 364 pages, follows the novellas Bones in Her Pocket and precedes Swamp Bones in publication order, continuing the numbered main-line series as its seventeenth entry. Tempe's personal storylines — her relationship with Ryan, her bond with Katy — keep developing here as they do throughout the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Bones Never Lie - Book 19:
Swamp Bones
Swamp Bones (2014), 96 pages, is a novella slotting between Bones Never Lie and Speaking in Bones, part of the same optional .5-numbered side reading as Bones in Her Pocket and Bones on Ice. It was later gathered into the anthology The Bone Collection.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Swamp Bones - Book 20:
Speaking in Bones
Speaking in Bones (2015), 432 pages, is the eighteenth Temperance Brennan novel, following the novella Swamp Bones and preceding Bones on Ice. Kathy Reichs continues drawing on her own forensic-anthropology background for the case's bone science.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Speaking in Bones - Book 21:
Bones on Ice
Bones on Ice (2015), 120 pages, followed Speaking in Bones and preceded The Bone Collection as the third of the series' optional .5-numbered novellas. Like Bones in Her Pocket and Swamp Bones, it's side reading rather than required for the main Temperance Brennan plot.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Bones on Ice - Book 22:
The Bone Collection
The Bone Collection (2016), 370 pages, is an anthology gathering the three .5-numbered Temperance Brennan novellas — Bones in Her Pocket, Swamp Bones and Bones on Ice — plus First Bones, a prequel novella otherwise unavailable on its own. It sits in publication order after Bones on Ice and before A Conspiracy of Bones, and is optional side reading rather than required for the main series arc.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Bone Collection - Book 23:
A Conspiracy of Bones
A Conspiracy of Bones (2020), 352 pages, is the nineteenth entry, following the anthology The Bone Collection and preceding The Bone Code. It resumes the numbered series after the run of shorter novellas, continuing Tempe's ongoing life between Montreal and North Carolina.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Conspiracy of Bones - Book 24:
The Bone Code
The Bone Code (2021), 368 pages, sits between A Conspiracy of Bones and Cold, Cold Bones as the twentieth Temperance Brennan novel. Kathy Reichs keeps the series grounded in real forensic procedure — reading trauma, age and cause of death from a skeleton — two decades after Déjà Dead began the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Bone Code - Book 25:
Cold, Cold Bones
Cold, Cold Bones (2022), 352 pages, is the twenty-first entry, following The Bone Code and preceding The Bone Hacker. It continues the series' pattern of self-contained cases layered over Tempe's steadily developing personal life.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Cold, Cold Bones - Book 26:
The Bone Hacker
The Bone Hacker (2023), 352 pages, is the twenty-second Temperance Brennan novel, sitting between Cold, Cold Bones and Fire and Bones. Kathy Reichs, still drawing on her practicing forensic-anthropology background, keeps the case science front and center here.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Bone Hacker - Book 27:
Fire and Bones
Fire and Bones (2024), 283 pages, is the twenty-third entry, following The Bone Hacker and preceding Evil Bones. It continues the series' now nearly three-decade-long run of grounding each case in real bone science and lab procedure.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Fire and Bones - Book 28:
Evil Bones
Evil Bones (2025), 288 pages, is the most recent entry in the Temperance Brennan series so far, following Fire and Bones. It continues Kathy Reichs's pattern of moving Tempe's forensic expertise through fresh case territory nearly thirty years after Déjà Dead.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Evil Bones
About the Temperance Brennan series
Dr. Temperance "Tempe" Brennan is a forensic anthropologist who splits her working life between Montreal and North Carolina, identifying the dead from skeletal remains, decomposed bodies and crime-scene fragments that ordinary detectives can't make sense of. Kathy Reichs, herself a practicing forensic anthropologist, grounds every case in real bone science and lab procedure -- how to read trauma, age and cause of death from a skeleton -- rendered with a level of technical authenticity that set the template for the modern forensic-procedural boom (and directly inspired the long-running TV series Bones, very loosely based on the character). Tempe is smart, stubborn, recovering-alcoholic-turned-teetotaler, and drawn into her cases as much by professional obsession as by her uneasy, long-running romance with Quebec homicide detective Andrew Ryan.
Across the series Reichs moves her forensic puzzles through serial killers, historical cold cases, war-crime exhumations, cults and human trafficking, while Tempe's own life -- her relationship with Ryan, her prickly bond with her daughter Katy, her rivalry with fellow anthropologist and sometime nemesis colleagues -- develops steadily book to book. Readers drawn to the CSI/Bones style of forensic mystery, but who want the science handled by someone who actually does the job, are the natural audience; the show Bones borrowed the character's name and profession but tells largely unrelated stories, so book readers and show fans are having two different experiences of Tempe Brennan.
Frequently asked questions
How many Temperance Brennan books are there?
There are 24 novels as of Evil Bones (2025), plus three linked novellas and the anthology The Bone Collection.
What order should I read the Temperance Brennan books in?
Publication order, starting with Déjà Dead (1997). Tempe's relationship with Andrew Ryan and her family life develop steadily across the series.
Is the Temperance Brennan series finished?
No new book is currently announced following Evil Bones (2025), but Kathy Reichs has published new entries almost every year for nearly three decades.
Is the TV series Bones based on these books?
Only loosely. Fox's Bones (2005-2017) borrows the character's name and forensic-anthropologist profession from Kathy Reichs's novels but tells its own largely unrelated stories.
Do I need to read the Temperance Brennan novellas?
No. Bones in Her Pocket, Swamp Bones and Bones on Ice (also collected in The Bone Collection along with the prequel story First Bones) are optional bonus cases, not required for the main novel sequence.
If you like the Temperance Brennan series
Reading order last verified .