Body Farm creator Dr Bill Brockton has been given an interesting crime scene to recreate – the body of man was found tied to a tree, in full drag, significantly decomposed and predatised from the knees down but barely touched from the chest up. More pressing, though, is the furore sparked when he embarrassed a religious student in class – the University has been picketed by ‘intelligent design’ proponents calling for his suspension. Had the debate been germane to the class subject matter the University would be unambiguously able to defend him, but it wasn’t and the legal team are conflicted.
When Brockton discovers his crime scene appallingly contaminated – the experimental body has been lewdly strapped to the body of someone he’s close to – none of this seems important. Still reeling from the loss, and the shock of discovery, Brockton can not believe it when he’s the main suspect. Abandoned by his university and the object of suspicion to almost all his friends, Brockton cannot even turn to his son Jeff, as his grandsons are afraid of him. In desperation Brockton does something he never expected to do – he hires the city’s least reputable lawyer to represent him. Although personally repelled by the clearly guilty clientele Burt DeVreiss has got off previously, Brockton sees no other choice.
As in Carved in Bone, this second in the series combines real forensic detail with a fast-paced, involving plot and strong characterisation. It’s clear that this authorial partnership combines the best of both men – the clinical detail rings true but isn’t overly detailed, and is usually well integrated into the plot, and maintains readability in a way expository writers would do well to emulate. While the focus is on plot over character development, the primary characters are well rounded, and Brockton is particularly nuanced.
There are deft touches of humour (when his assistant Miranda pulls out a pocket knife and Brockton asks “What is that, a six-inch blade?” Miranda relies with a snort “Do men really believe that’s what six inches looks like? Try three and a half”), and I like Brockton’s incredulous take, which I suspect is also Bass’s, on forensic dramas like CSI. He also has a similar disdain as me for semi-literate signage, exemplified in his commentary on the picket:
“BROCKTON MONKEY’S WITH GODS CREATION, read a few others, combining dubious theology with appalling apostrophe usage.”
One of the elements I particularly enjoyed was the incidental information I picked up. Although I’ve never had any interest in visiting Tennessee to date, the aquarium in Chattanooga sounds amazing, and I want to visit it, even though I’d never heard of it before this. Although I knew Inherit the Wind, the film about the Scopes trial, was a Hollywood dramatisation, I had no idea the trial itself was so contrived and choreographed.
There is a strong sense of genuine frustration and anger about the cult of ‘intelligent design,’ and Bill Bass has included some exceptionally strong facts supporting not only evolution in the abstract but evolution as an active, current force. Not just design flaws in the human body (aspects extending beyond the well-used ‘what’s the point of an appendix is we were created this way?’) but information about the changing dimensions (height as well as weight) of Western humans in the last quarter century, the increased prevalence of caesarian births (beyond the convenience factor) and the growing need for orthodonture (due to jaw size evolving more quickly than tooth number). These are topics I’m already interested in, but the writers integrate the facts so seamlessly into the plot that I suspect readers who don’t already have an interest won’t feel bashed over the head by the information.
Flesh and Bone is smart, literate and aware forensic crime fiction that knocks the socks of more well established writers at their best. - Alex
The Bill Brockton series:
Carved in Bone
Flesh and Bone
The Devil’s Bones
Bones of Betrayal
The Bone Yard
The Bone Thief
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