KATHY REICHS
Tony Rossiter looks at a writer who uses her professional expertise to produce crime novels with the stamp of authenticity.
Tony Rossiter
© Kate Chandler/Writer Pictures
The style & technique of
It was a global bestseller – and the fastest-selling debut novel ever in the UK. Déjà Dead (1997) introduced feisty forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, based loosely on the author herself.
Kathy Reichs has gone on to write a further seventeen bestsellers about Brennan, selling over 30 million copies worldwide (and six YA books written with her son featuring Brennan’s great-niece Tory). A professor of anthropology, she’s known to many simply as ‘the bones lady’.
How she began
Born in Chicago, from an early age she was interested in insects, animals, science and archaeology. While at school she wrote two stories (a mystery and a romance) which she later described as ‘hideous’. After graduation she completed a PhD in physical anthropology and then began work as an academic bioarchaeologist at the University of North Carolina.
She was working with ancient bones when the local police, without access to any formal forensic anthropology department, began to consult her about cases that stumped them. She later said, ‘I love archaeology, but you are never going to impact on anyone’s life. Working forensic cases helps real people.’ By examining the bones Reichs can usually tell how old the person was, whether they were right or left-handed and many other things that can help to identify the deceased and to determine the cause of death.