Order of Kathy Reichs Books
American author Kathy Reichs is not only a novelist, but also an anthropologist. This comes in handy writing her Temperance Brennan novels, as Tempe is an anthropologist as well. They also share several of the same personality traits and many of the places that Reichs writes about are places she has been to herself. Kathy also writes the Virals series for young adults.
Kathy Reichs also works as a producer on the television show Bones, which is inspired by Reichs’ own life in addition to her writing. She made her debut in 1997 with the novel Déjà Dead, which was the first book to feature her character Temperance Brennan. Below is a list of Kathy Reichs’ books in order of when they were originally released:
Publication Order of Temperance Brennan Books
| Déjà Dead | (1997) |    |
| Death du Jour | (1999) | |
| Deadly Decisions | (2000) | |
| Fatal Voyage | (2001) | |
| Grave Secrets | (2002) | |
| Bare Bones | (2003) | |
| Monday Mourning | (2004) | |
| Cross Bones | (2005) | |
| Break No Bones | (2006) | |
| Bones to Ashes | (2007) | |
| Devil Bones | (2008) | |
| 206 Bones | (2009) | |
| Spider Bones / Mortal Remains | (2010) | |
| Flash and Bones | (2011) | |
| Bones Are Forever | (2012) | |
| Bones in Her Pocket | (2013) | |
| Bones ofthe Lost | (2013) | |
| Swamp Bones | (2014) | |
| Bones Never Lie | (2014) | |
| Bones on Ice | (2015) | |
| Speaking in Bones | (2015) | |
| A Conspiracy of Bones | (2018) | |
| The Bone Code | (2021) | |
| Cold, Cold Bones | (2022) | |
Publication Order of Temperance Brennan Collections
| The Bone Collection | (2016) | |
Publication Order of Tory Brennan (Virals) Books
(with Brendan Reichs)
| Shock | (2009) | |
| Virals | (2010) | |
| Seizure | (2011) | |
| Shift | (2013) | |
| Code | (2013) | |
| Swipe | (2013) | |
| Exposure | (2014) | |
| Terminal | (2015) | |
| Spike | (2016) | |
| Trace Evidence | (2016) | |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| Two Nights | (2017) | |
Publication Order of The MatchUp Collection Books
| Honor & ... | (2017) | |
| Deserves to Be Dead | (2017) | |
| Getaway | (2017) | |
| Midnight Flame | (2018) | |
| Short Story | (2019) | |
| Past Prologue | (2019) | |
| Faking a Murderer | (2019) | |
| Dig Here | (2019) | |
| Taking the Veil | (2019) | |
| Rambo on Their Minds | (2019) | |
| Footloose | (2019) | |
Publication Order of Bones Books
(with Max Allan Collins)
| Buried Deep | (2006) | |
Publication Order of Anthologies
| I'd Kill For That | (2004) | |
| No Rest for the Dead | (2011) | |
| MatchUp | (2017) | |
| Birds of Prey: The Harlan Coben Challenge | (2022) | |
Note: Code is co-authored by Brendan Reichs.
If You Like Kathy Reichs Books, You’ll Love…
Kathy Reichs Synopses: In the first novel of the Temperance Brennan series Deja Dead, Tempe Brennan finds a fresh corpse that has been decapitated. After more murders match the M.O. of this one, Tempe is soon convinced that she has a serial killer on her hands, although the police are not convinced. Without any help from the police department, Tempe does her own detective work in order to find the killer, which now makes her the killer’s target.
Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs is the second book in the Temperance Brennan series. It’s bitterly cold in Montreal and Tempe Brennan is digging for a corpse that’s been buried for more than a hundred years. Although Tempe thrives on the historical enigmas, it’s a chain of contemporary deaths and disappearances that has gained her attention – and she has the opportunity to make a bone-chilling connection between the seemingly unrelated events. At the crime scene, at the morgue, and in the lab, Tempe probes a mystery that sweeps from a deadly Quebec fire to startling discoveries in the Carolinas, and culminates in Montreal with a terrifying confrontation – a nerve-shattering test of not only her forensic expertise but her skills of survival.
Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs is the third book in the Temperance Brennan series. Tragedy occurs when nine-year-old Emily Anne Toussaint is fatally shot on a street in Montreal. A North Carolina teenager vanishes from her home, and parts of her skeleton are found hundreds of miles away. The shocking deaths take Tempe Brennan from north to south, and deep into an eye-opening investigation inside the bizarre culture of outlaw biker gangs – where one wrong move could bring tragedy for herself or someone she loves.
Two Nights is a standalone novel by Kathy Reichs. The protagonist is Sunday Night, a woman with physical and psychological scars, and a killer instinct. Sunnie has spent years trying to escape her past, hiding secrets and making a life in which she needs no one and feels nothing. But a girl has gone missing, lost in the chaos of a bomb explosion, and the family needs Sunnie’s help. Is the girl dead? Was she taken? If she is out there, why doesn’t she want to be found? It’s time for Sunnie to come face-to-face with her demons, because they just might point her towards the truth about what really happened all those years ago.
I had A Conspiracy of Bones on pre-order from B& N…just got an email it is no longer scheduled for release…..does anyone know why?
It has unfortunately been canceled due to health issues Kathy has. She is taking a sabbatical from writing and touring etc for now.
I just finished a wonderful YA novel, VIRALS. My review will appear soon. I know “Bones” and the aiuithor’s adult novels to a degree. Frankly, the TV series does not give adequate credit to the talent of this wonderful writer.
I suspect her YA series will also be a hit series. I hope so. And, I might say, if you like this YA series, find Susan Runholt’s series about Kari and Lucas and their adventures in the internationalworld of art.
Hi, Graeme! In ” The Bone Collection,” which you mentioned in an earlier post, I see where it contains a total of 4 Novellas. In the synopsis available from my local Library, “First Bones” was listed as a “prequel” to the very first Temperance Brennan Novel, “Deja Dead.” I’ve not, however, been able to ascertain what the chronological order should be for the remaining 3. The titles are, “Bones In Her Pocket,’ ” Swamp Bones” and “Bones On Ice.” As an avid reader, I ALWAYS adhere to the chronological reading order for any Series, whenever possible. Is there any way you might be able to help me with this? Thank you for any advice you can offer. As an aside, you ALL there at Order Of Books do an AMAZING job and I, for one, would be lost without you! Take Care and Happy Reading! “Justbecuz”
First Bones is a prequel as you mentioned.
Bones in Her Pocket takes place before Bones of the Lost.
Swamp Bones is before Bones Never Lie.
And Bones on Ice is before Speaking in Bones.
I believe all that is correct 🙂 Thanks for the kind words.
Graeme, Thank you so very much for your quick(!) response and for untangling this for me! I even tried to puzzle this out from the author’s website myself and left still scratching my head… My apologies for my previous post being somewhat lengthy. Seems I apparently “type” the same way I “talk”…as in, way too much! 🙂 Again, my thanks. Take Care, “Just”
Among the “also read” authors should be Jefferson Bass, Based on cases by Dr Bill Bass of UTenn.
Any idea when the next Temperance Brennan book will be published?
Haven’t heard anything about a new one yet. There is a new collection book coming out though called the “Bone Collection”.
It’s always interesting to compare the characters and settings in the book series with the television series. Except for the fact that Tempe is a forensic anthropologist, they are entirely different. Different locales, different personalities, different plots, different everything.
Charlaine Harris has done the same thing with her Sookie Stackhouse books and her True Blood series, though the local and some main characters are (somewhat altered) in both.
is bones on ice a Kathy R book or is it the diff title for one of the others
I can’t believe we had to wait until book 6 before she slept with Ryan
Love her! She is absolutely wonderful. The science is fascinating and well explained without being condescending. The stories are fun to read and intelligently written. The sidebar historical nuggets are intriguing and wonderful educational. And of course there is Tempe, wonderful sense of humor and great personality. As a woman and artist who loves science and intelligent people she is someone that I would love to hang out with and converse and laugh with for hours. Definitely someone that I would hang out with. She is not only intelligent but exceptionally empathetic as well (which many of her fellow mystery female heroines are not). And a huge part of the stories come from Reich’s own personal experience, so she is not just making something up or using information that she got second hand but is actually in many cases, giving us real information.Super fun, very interesting and great stories. Keep them coming Kathy.
I have only just begun to read Kathy. I became addicted, rather quickly, to the Bones television series. Tnt having run 4 episodes a day 5 days a week. (Other shows had me missing the series before). I’m an avid reader, and decided I couldn’t wait to read the books my favorite show was based off of. I
Absorbing plots and interesting details. After reading a few of her later books, I read her earliest ones. She really matured as a writer. I’m glad she found her sassiness.
While her plots are interesting, this author does not possess the writing talent to make me look forward to the next installment. Airport reads at best.