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    Grave Secrets: A Novel
    Grave Secrets: A Novel
    Grave Secrets: A Novel
    Audiobook9 hours

    Grave Secrets: A Novel

    Written by Kathy Reichs

    Narrated by Katherine Borowitz

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    As fresh and shocking as today’s headlines, a “chilling” (People) Temperance Brennan novel in which a harrowing excavation unearths a terrible tragedy never laid to rest—from New York Times bestselling author and world-class forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs.

    They are “the disappeared,” twenty-three massacre victims buried in a well in the Guatemalan village of Chupan Ya two decades ago. Leading a team of experts on a meticulous, heartbreaking dig, Tempe Brennan pieces together the violence of the past. But a fresh wave of terror begins when the horrific sounds of a fatal attack on two colleagues come in on a blood-chilling satellite call. Teaming up with Special Crimes Investigator Bartolome Galiano and Montreal detective Andrew Ryan, Tempe quickly becomes enmeshed in the cases of four privileged young women who have vanished from Guatemala City—and finds herself caught in deadly territory where power, money, greed, and science converge.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateJul 1, 2002
    ISBN9780743550840
    Author

    Kathy Reichs

    Kathy Reichs’s first novel Déjà Dead, published in 1997, won the Ellis Award for Best First Novel and was an international bestseller. Fire and Bones is Reichs’s twenty-third novel featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Reichs was also a producer of Fox Television’s longest running scripted drama, Bones, which was based on her work and her novels. One of very few forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, Reichs divides her time between Charlotte, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina. Visit her at KathyReichs.com or follow her on Twitter @KathyReichs, Instagram @KathyReichs, or Facebook @KathyReichsBooks. 

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    Reviews for Grave Secrets

    3.5/5

    765 ratings34 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Installment number 5 with Tempe Brennan, sleuth and forensic anthropologist. Unusual setting this time – our heroine is taking part in a dig in Guatemala, to recover bodies that were hastily buried 20 years previously after a massacre by the Guatemalan army. She very quickly sticks her nose into places where it doesn’t belong. Especially when the local police asks her to consult on a current case that smells of serial killer on the loose. Took me a bit to get into it, but then I could not put it down again. Fear not, Tempe is still good for another couple of books. The characters are well established now and everybody is guessing, when she will finally get to do the deed with Ryan?
    • 1/5
      Unsurprisingly disappointing book. Just like a TV show inspired by Kathy Reichs' books, it lacks originality and good characterization. She needs to stop shaping all her plots the same way and it wouldn't hurt her to occasionally find new ways to present her stories.
    • 3/5
      Reading this at the same time as an Alice Munro book made Reichs' lack of writing style more obvious. It's not that her mysteries are bad, or badly written, but her strength is in describing forensic methods in detail. Dialogue is the abrupt, rapid-fire, smart-ass approach, without grace or polish. Plots follow a formula involving Brennan: a) up to her eyes in some kind of gruesome gore (this time a septic tank); b) getting mad at authority; c) being in peril; and d) fancying the nearest hunk (there is always one handy). I have enjoyed the books read so far, but I'm over Reichs now.
    • 3/5
      Fifth Dr. Temperance Brennan mystery, very different from the Bones character. Read it mostly out of curiosity.
    • 1/5
      This was a big disappointment after Reichs' [book:Fatal Voyage]. Our heroine, Tempe Brennan, has lost much of her depth, and is beginning to resemble Stephanie Plum, what with her shallow thought processes and multiple boyfriends (one anglo, one latin, both in law enforcement). Throw in a wacky grandmother, replace Tempe's cat with a hamster, and [author: Janet Evanovich] would be calling her lawyer.Reichs seems to have gotten lazy in her attempts to integrate real anthropology into her storytelling. Someone ought to tell her that she can't just lift paragraphs from one of her Journal of Forensic Anthropology articles, throw quotation marks around it, and call it dialogue.
    • 4/5
      Most of the action in this novel takes place in Guatemala. Tempe investigates 2 cases. A decades old mass murder, and a recent, possible serial killer. The 2 story lines are for the most part unrelated and I am not sure why there are 2 strong cases presented. Either one could have been the basis for it's own book. It was interesting reading about a different culture. I was a little bothered when Ryan shows up in Guatemala. How does he manage to get assigned to a case in a foreign country that just happens to be where Tempe is working? The coincidence seemed too forced to me.
    • 3/5
      Never really got into this one. An okay read, but nothing more than that for me. I often find myself a tad disappointed with this series, but still continue with it.
    • 2/5
      PLOT OR PREMISE:Tempe finds herself in Guatemala investigating a mass grave, and while she's there, the local police decide to avail themselves of her forensics expertise to investigate four missing girls and one dead body in a sewer..WHAT I LIKED:The cast of characters is large and there's some historical elements included related to Guatemalan history..WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:Tempe bounces around Guatemala too much, helping the only honest detective in a sea of corruption, and figures out missing girls, links to stem cell research, and takes her sweet time doing it. She even finds time to link it to her friends in Montreal, who just so happen to have gone to school with her detective partner in Guatemala. Beyond far-fetched, and casting aspersions on everyone she describes and the way they work, this one should have been a secret Reichs took to the grave. And finally, a bit of a spoiler, she rips off Janet Evanovich's technique of not finishing the romance part of the book -- you know she's chosen someone but not whom. Stay tuned to the next in the series to find out which one, I suppose..BOTTOM-LINE:Pass on this one in the series.DISCLOSURE:I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow her on social media.
    • 4/5
      In Kathy Reichs' fifth novel, the story takes us to a Guatemalan village, the site of a political massacre during that country's civil war. Although the bloody struggles that took the lives of thousands occurred from 1962 to 1996, an international team of forensic experts that includes Dr. Temperance Brennan has been asked to excavate a mass grave site, identify victims and determine how they died. Even though it's only a short-term assignment, Tempe is finding it to be one of the most depressing projects she's ever been involved with. As the villagers look on, the team excavates an old well to remove the bodies of women and children murdered by government soldiers. They are hoping to find evidence that would identify those responsible and, more importantly, identify the victims so their families can give them a decent burial.

      Their heart-wrenching work is made even more stressful by an attack on two of their team members by what are presumably local thieves. One teammate is killed, but the other, left for dead, lingers in a coma fighting for her life. With this new violence, everything changes, both for the team and for Tempe, who's asked by the Guatemalan police for her expertise on another case. Four wealthy young women have vanished from Guatemala City in recent months. One is the Canadian ambassador's daughter. Some remains have turned up in a septic tank, and Tempe unfortunately knows septic tanks.

      Grave Secrets is very interesting as both a suspense mystery and from the forensics aspect of a real-life event in Guatemala. It has some strong characters and a tension-filled plot. There's a mix of humor as well, which you need for some of the more unpleasant aspects of the forensics that are an integral part of this story.
    • 3/5
      Audio book narrated by Katherine Borowitz

      Forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan is in Guatemala working to excavate a decades-old mass grave and identify the bodies buried there, when she is asked to help local police with their investigation into the disappearance of four young women. Is there a serial killer on the loose? Why is the DA hampering the investigation? What is the Canadian ambassador’s wife hiding? Is the local detective truly interested in her – in a personal way – or is she imagining this because she misses Ryan?

      Reichs crafts a fast-moving, intricate plot. The pace is unrelenting, with just enough scientific information to make Tempe an interesting professional, but not so much that the non-scientist reader loses interest. There are enough red herrings here to distract the most dedicated sleuth. I know that I was still thinking, “what about …?” when the final reveal came, and I like being surprised. But let’s talk about our heroine. Tempe is – for the most part – an independent and intelligent woman. She doesn’t take s**t from anyone and she’s pretty capable when it comes to taking care of herself. So why does she – yet again – go off chasing the bad guy without backup or even her cell phone? ARRGH. I typically give up on a series after about three or four installments; it’s not necessarily the fault of the author, but I get bored reading about the same character in similar settings over and over again. Grave Secrets is the 5th in this series, and I may have reached my limit.

      Borowitz does a great job narrating this thriller. Her pacing is quick, and she does a reasonable job of the various accents required in this story. I’d listen to her again.
    • 3/5
      Description from Dust Flap

      It was a summer morning in 1982 when soldiers ravaged the village of Chupan Ya, raping and killing women and children. Twenty-three victims are said to lie in the well where, twenty years later, Dr. Temperance Brennan and a team from the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation now dig. No records were kept. To their families, the dead are "the disappeared."
      Forensic anthropologist for the medical examiners in North Carolina and Montreal, Tempe is in Guatemala for a month's service to help some families identify and bury their dead. She digs in a cold, damp pit where she finds a hair clip, a fragment of cloth, a tiny sneaker. Her trowel touches something hard: the hip of a child no more than two years old.
      It's heartbreaking work. Something savage happened here twenty yers ago. The violence continues today. The team is packing up for the day when an urgent satellite call comes in. Two colleagues are under attack. Shots ring out, and Tempe listens in horror to a woman's screams. Then there is silence. Dead silence.
      With this new violence, everything changes, both for the team and for Tempe, who's asked by the Guatemalan police for her expertise on another case. Four privileged young women have vanished from Guatemala City in recent months. One is the Canadian ambassador's daughter. Some remains have turned up in a septic tank, and Tempe unfortunately knows septic tanks.
      Teaming with Special Crimes Investigator Bartolome Galiano and with Montreal detective Andrew Ryan, who may have more than just professional reasons to join her on the case, Tempe soon finds herself in a dangerous web that stretches far beyond Guatemala's borders. The stakes are huge. As power, money, greed, and science converge, Tempe must make life altering choices.
      From cutting-edge science in the lab, where Tempe studies fetal bones and cat hair DNA, to a chillin encounter in a lonely morgue, Grave Secrets is powerful, page-turning entertainment from a crime fiction superstar who combines riveting authenticity with witty, elegant prose.

      My Comments

      I just don't like mysteries. I think it's probably because I'm not a big fan of suspense. I would much prefer to just get into the character's minds, and read a character study book than read a fast-paced mystery book with twists and turns. I just can't get into them.

      This book started out pretty well. I liked the stuff with the Disappeared in Guatemala, and even the parts where she started the other investigation. Actually, I thought it was actually pretty interesting until the last fifty pages, when they brought in stuff that came out of nowhere and that I thought was totally...well, silly. It was an okay book. I have to admit it was better than other mysteries I've read, anyway.

    • 4/5
      I've watched many episodes of Bones, but this was the first Temperance Brennan book I've read or in this case listened to. I was very impressed with the whole thing and felt it was pretty good except for the part where Tempe loses all sanity and does several of the stupidest things she could all in a row. Overall I think she was a good detective and a fairly 'real' person. I expect to read/listen to a few more of these in the near future.Temperance Brennan is working in Guatemala on a dig to recover and identify the remains of people massacred and buried in a well. Rumors of Tempe's expertise has reached the ears of a detective who has a body in a septic tank. He wants her to help reclaim and identify the body. Someone doesn't want that to happen and is trying very hard to discourage her from continuing.
    • 4/5
      Another complex murder mystery spanning the present and the past, this time set in post-civil war Guatemala. Perpetrators of war crimes in the 70s and 80s are still hiding their crimes by any means necessary. Ryan swoops in somewhat more plausibly than in the previous book, but this time he has competition...
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book and found that it was a fast read.
    • 2/5
      Not by any means great writing but a good page-turner. Don't go out of your way to get a copy!
    • 3/5
      I don't like the voice of the reader for this audio CD as much as the other Reichs readers. This person is more monotone and dry. But the entwining of the two mysteries/cases is interesting, though it gets a bit confusing at the end. Another good forensic, anthropologic mystery!
    • 3/5
      Grave Secrets by Kathy Reichs, the fifth in the series of Temperance Brennan books. This one sees her in an entirely new location (for most of the book); neither Montreal or North Carolina, but Guatemala. Of course, with Tempe, things are never simple. She's out there to excavate a mass grave, but in the process is sucked into a suspected serial killer case. My copy also has a note stuck in the front of it regarding a driving lesson that I'd booked many, many years ago.Thankfully I've reached a point in this series of books where I've forgotten exactly what is happening in the books. Bits do come back to me as I'm reading, though not always the whole solution so I still don't know exactly what's going to happen. The last time I read this book was way back in 2007, so the last five years have done wonders at restoring the suspense in these stories. For the most part, I'm feeling like I'm reading the book for the first time.When I'm reading one of these books for the first time (or if it feels like the first time because it's been half a decade since you last read it - seriously? where have the last five years gone?) one of the things that always stands out to me is the way Kathy Reichs does cliffhangers. I swear it's the reason why I was able to read this one so quickly. With the earlier books in the series I didn't feel that same urgency to find out 'whodunnit' because I could remember perfectly well thankyouverymuch.When you've forgotten who the murderer is, it's so much easier to get lost in the tale. Kathy Reichs has this wonderful was of ending a chapter on a sort of dun dun DUN! moment, so after you've told yourself 'just one more chapter' you end up having to read on to find out what the outcome of the moment it. Of course, it's usually something which is quickly explained in the next chapter, although sometimes it's cunningly not revealed until the following page so you can't just scan ahead to find out the answer.As I was reading, I did find a couple of bit a little confusing. My main problem with getting confuzzled with Kathy Reichs books is that there's always so many people involved in the cases that I find it easy to get a little muddled. Of course, that's also a good thing in one respect; in real life it wouldn't just be one person off solving the case. It just can mean a bit of back-tracking while you're reading to nip back and check on who it was who was running an analysis, or who was a suspect in the murder, or whatever. It was also dealing with a part of the world (and its associated history) which I know very little about, so I can understand that may have added a little to my moments of confusion.This one does still manage to follow the usual format of a Tempe Brennan story, despite her being in a different country. Around about Chapter 30 she ends up being attacked and the end of the story is revealed mostly though the other people recounting things to her. It is a little predictable in that respect, but it's an easy read.I'm pleased that I'm getting near to the end of the ones I've already read. As much as I'm enjoying rediscovering the ones I've read before, I can't wait to get onto the ones I've never read before.
    • 5/5
      Read this 2011 after finding 3 of Reichs books at a thrift and buying then reading outof sequence I relized I had to read them all in order! I just love Kathy reichs books!
    • 3/5
      Grave Secrets takes place in Guatemala, and it seems that Reichs has gotten the hang of translating foreign phrases in her text, and although I understand Spanish, it’s certainly welcome. While not as fast paced and compelling as her last novel, this is still a solid mystery with several red herrings that were not too poorly utilized. Reichs really wants to highlight the struggles and victimization of indigenous Guatemalans and pay tribute to those brutalized by the government until as recently as 1996. That’s quite admirable, but those parts of the story don’t have a lot to do with the rest of it, except as a device to get Tempe to Guatemala in the first place. The best part is the intensifying relationship between Tempe and Ryan, but when Tempe works with Detective Galiano to solve the Guatemalan murders it seems Ryan may have a rival for Tempe’s affection. Ooooh, who will she choose?
    • 4/5
      Kathy Reichs manages to make scientific facts and issues very easy to grasp and does it all in a neat little 'thriller/mystery' package with an engaging storyline to boot. I really adore this series.
    • 5/5
      Grave Secrets filled a couple warm evenings and left me disappointed that tale was over. I look forward to digging into my stack of books for another by Kathy Reichs, a forenisic anthropologist turned author.There is a smigen of preaching (easily ignored) when the author's political bent bleeds through her pen.
    • 4/5
      When forensic anthropologist Temperence Brennan goes on a dig in Guatemala to identify victims of a harsh regime, one of her colleagues is murdered and another nearly so. Someone is trying to stop something being discovered. This puts Tempe in danger. On a lighter note, she has met detective-sergeant Bartolome (Bat) Galiano who may be a rival to Andrew Ryan in her affections.This novel is not as powerful as her others but still a great read with an intrigueing plot.
    • 4/5
      Grave Secrets - Kathy ReichsTemperence Brennan, Book 5; Crime; 7/10Strange as it more sound for books about forensic anthropology, Kathy Reichs is my palate-cleanser author. I read her when I need to break from everything else, enjoy the books and can usually read them in a day or two. So I always have the next one on hand ready for when I might want it. This was a bit of a change as it did indeed deal with historial forensic anthropology as well as a modern crime, and the Guatemalan setting was a change from Canada and the US. I particularly like - and I hope this doesn't count as a spoiler - that for a change from many authors, Reichs didn't tie up all her different strands into one single solution, pretty bow included. Instead it was messier, more like real life. I continue to enjoy the series and will read the next one when I again want a break from other books.
    • 4/5
      This book really had a feeling of authenticity as, like her character, Kathy Reichs has also worked on uncovering the mass graves in Guatemala. Her compassion for the victims of this, and other, atrocities shines through as she takes her readers on yet another wild, page turning ride.
    • 4/5
      Really enjoyed this. The character of Temperenace Brennan is very different from the on portrayed in the "Bones" TV Series, which is a very pleasant surprise - as the one in the book is much more like a real person and multi-faceted. Read as part of a Bookcrossing Bookray.
    • 5/5
      I had read the other Kathy Reich books and am a fan (I'm also from Charlotte), and my husband and I have enjoyed the Bones TV series. So I was happy to see this Audio Book in the public library and grabbed it. Was glad I did. Reich's books are much better than the TV show for one thing. I liked the intertwined mysteries, past and present, in this book. In fact I liked it so much that I, who do not like to drive, kept finding excuses to go somewhere in the car so I could hear what would happen next! A little twist on my feelings that the good book is the one that keeps you turning the pages.
    • 4/5
      I need to read this book again since I have forgotten parts of it!I bought this novel and "Grave Secrets" at Realeyesbookstore in Charlotte NC on 12/02/05 evidently from the receipt. Ms. Reichs had quite a group squeezed into the tiny bookstore and was actually promoting another novel which the bookstore only had in paperback. I grabbed two hardbacks in new condition off the used book shelf and bought them intending to give them as gifts. I kept the books instead!My digital camera's batteries were on the fritz and my knowledge of the controls was limited but I got a few photos of the event.
    • 5/5
      Tempe Brennan is volunteering her expertise in Guatemala, investigating a massacre site as a favor to an associate. When her team is attacked by gunmen, Tempe finds herself ensnared in a mesh of corruption and murder stretching from Guatemala City to Montreal. Tempe finds herself being tugged back and forth between the two investigating cops: Lt. Andrew Ryan, her Canadian suitor and agente Galiano Bartolom, to whom she feels a definite attraction. That the two men know each other and are friends doesn't help the situation. When a nosy reporter looking into the massacre is gunned down before Tempe's eyes, she realizes she herself is the next likely target. Ms Reichs has a good feel for the government and people of Guatemala. She makes good point about how differently a crime is treated when a major diplomat’s daughter is involved as opposed to an ordinary citizen. She has woven a deliciously twisted tail that had me reading into the wee hours of the night.
    • 4/5
      Another good mystery following the adventures of Tempe Brennan, this time in Guatemala. I keep thinking that Ms Reichs sometimes just drags the action too much and gives one too many details about forensics and "boring" stuff. But maybe it's just me ;)And when do we see something happening between Tempe and Ryan!? Arghhhhhhh.
    • 4/5
      On a summer morning in 1982, soldiers enter a Guatemalan village and massacre its women and children. Terrified of meeting a similar fate, returning relatives quickly bury their dead in makeshift graves. Today these families refer to their lost members as “the disappeared,” and human rights teams are trying to find them. Dr. Temperance Brennan, international forensic anthropologist, has been asked to investigate one of the most heart-breaking cases of her career. As she digs in the cold, damp soil, clues emerge: a hair clip, a tiny sneaker, the hip bone of a child less than two years old. Something savage happened in the highlands two decades ago, and something savage is happening today. Four girls are missing from Guatemala City, and the victims may be linked. An American human rights investigator is murdered as Tempe listens to her screams on the phone. Will Tempe be the next victim in a web of intrigue that spans decades?