Book Review: Skin and Bone by Kathryn Fox

CSI Miami is one of my favorite television shows, so you can tell I’m big on anything to do with forensic crime solving. In that respect, I began reading Skin and Bone with a sense of excitement – hoping to see if my favorite TV genre would translate well to the written word. I am overjoyed to exclaim that this work met and even overshot my high expectations.

Kathryn Fox’s previous two works, Malicious Intent and Without Consent, both dealt with forensic pathologist Dr. Anya Crichton. This work introduces a friend of Anya’s, homicide detective Kate Farrer. Kate has recently returned from a four month leave of absence, explained by a somewhat vague tale of her being abducted. The abduction is barely mentioned in the book, possibly leaving Kate open to be included in Fox’s later books, considering the same universe aspect she’s already used.

The case presented to Farrer and her new partner Oliver Parke (a coy mix-up of the smart cop meets rookie cliché) is quite the doozy, taking literally the entire book from beginning to end to solve in its entirety. In the course of events, two people are murdered, a child goes missing, and several women are drugged and raped. The three seemingly separate cases that start the book eventually are masterfully entwined by the author, leaving almost a sense of being overwhelmed to the reader.

A wide and colorful cast of characters, both detective and suspect, fill the pages with new plot devices at every turn. Drug dealers, undercover cops, mentally unstable children, and wealthy socialites all make appearances here, along with your usual garden variety cast of normal cops and criminals. It plays out in a strange way, with almost everyone introduced being a suspect at some point, even some of the cops. Disappearances, kidnappings, and murders meld into a core of action that keeps the characters with something to do literally the whole way through.

Article Author: Chris "UZ" White

Chris "UZ" White is some weirdo who likes music and video games from Denver, Colorado. He enjoys the finer things in life, like eating and sleeping. When he isn't partaking in those, he's actively looking for a mate. Or writing, depends if he's inside or outside. …

Visit Chris "UZ" White's author page — Chris "UZ" White's Blog