Flesh and Bone: A Body Farm Novel by Jefferson Bass

Flesh and Bone: A Body Farm Novel by Jefferson Bass was a book I stumbled upon while attending Killer Nashville 2008. Dr. Bill Bass was the keynote speaker and also half of the Jefferson Bass writing team. I was mesmerized by Dr. Bass, a renowned forensic anthropologist. He was a delightful speaker who is one of, if not the expert in the field of forensic anthropology. Not only was he informative, but he had a wonderful sense of humor. I imagine that anyone who can work with bodies all day would have to have a sense of humor just to be able to sleep at night.

It was Dr. Bass' two presentations that convinced me to purchase the three paperback Body Farm novels available while attending the conference. There was a fourth out in paperback, but I'm not in the habit of buying hardback books if I've already bought other books in the same purchase. Though I didn't stay to ask him to sign the three novels I bought, I was pleased when I opened them because he had signed the copies that Barnes and Noble had for sale prior to his talk. A signed author copy always encourages me to read, read, read!

Although the majority of the talk was regarding real life cases in which Dr. Bass had worked, he explained that he provides the science behind the novels while the other half of the writing team, Jon Jefferson, writes the prose. Because the protagonist in the novel, Dr. Bill Brockton, is a forensic anthropologist, I felt that the amount of science and explanation that the character went through as he solved the murders in this book were justified. If I hadn't heard Dr. Bass speak before reading and purchasing Flesh and Bone, I may have felt it was a little overkill.

After seeing the pictures in Dr. Bass' presentation about various things that the human body does when it decays outdoors, I could more easily picture some of the things that Dr. Brockton experiences in the novel. What stuck with me the most was that the skin on a body's hand (and fingerprints) will shed away from the flesh after a period of time like a snake shedding its skin. I would have never in my wildest dreams have imagined a dead body to do that in the course of decomposition. There was a lot of science, but I wouldn't say that I felt grossed out by the descriptions either.

There were several plot points that took me by surprise while reading Flesh and Bone. I was able to guess a few things too. I would say that Flesh and Bone was a good read, even if it is only read a little bit at a time. I took around four months to read it, usually while on my half hour lunch breaks at work. There are some books that get confusing if stretched out that long. Flesh and Bone had a plot that was easy enough to remember if read in 20 minute chunks.

Overall I give this book four stars. The only thing that held me back from rating it as five stars was that I was able to guess some of the things that happened at the end. There was still enough of a surprise factor for me to rate it highly, however.