Written by a criminal anthropologist, this work reveals the fascinating case histories behind some of the author's most unusual and horrific investigations. It describes the steps he took in resolving each mystery - from baffling dismemberment cases to the identity of long-buried skeletons.

'Death by self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head' is the on-scene assessment, but the victim's relatives are adamant in their rejection of suicide as an explanation. Discovered in a closet, a week after death, the body is barely recognisable. Extreme heat has accelerated decomposition, and Dr Temperance Brennan's forensic expertise is required.

In 1981 Dr William Bass founded the Anthropology Research facility at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, the world's only laboratory devoted to the study of human corpses. This is his personal account of the real Body Farm .

It's one of the hottest summers on record and forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan is looking forward to a long-overdue vacation. But it's not to be... First, the bones of a newborn baby are found in a wood stover; the mother, hardly more than a child herself, has disappeared. But what happened there, and who will be the next victim?

A plane crashes high in the mountains of North Carolina. But a severed foot is discovered a good distance from the main crash site... Forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan is first on the scene. The task that confronts her is a sad and sickening one, and her investigation seems to be throwing up more questions than it answers.

On a bitterly cold march night in Montreal, forensic anthropologiest Dr Temperance Brennan is exhuming the remains of a nun proposed for sainthood in the grounds of an old church. Just hours later, Tempe is called to the scene of a horrific arson. A young family has perished, and there seems to be no witness, no motive, no explanation.