Kathy Reichs is the creator of the character Temperance Brennan, forensic pathologist, as featured in the TV Series Bones. Now, Bones on TV is quite good, because it’s got that bloke from Buffy/Angel in it and other supporting cast members who make up the shortfall in the lead character, who is uptight, smug, ungiving and generally annoying. In fact, the chemistry between Emily Deschanel and David Boreanz is excellent, and Boreanz in particular is showing that his turn as Angel was no fluke.

But the books upon which Bones is based are a different matter. This was my first, and (I suspect) my last. The problem with a writer who makes such a huge deal out of the fact that she has the same expertise as her lead character and works in the real world in the same professional capacity is that she comes across as a bit, well, smug. Arrogant. Self-regarding, self-promoting, conceited, and generally up herself.

In other words, Kathy Reichs looms large as you read the book, and you wish she wouldn’t. In fact, you miss all the TV characters, none of whom are in the book. You miss Seeley Booth. In print, I didn’t care about any of the characters, and I wanted it all to be over in a nice, neat, TV-sized 42 minutes. It wasn’t.