In Kathy Reichs's fifth novel, the scene shifts from the familiar American and Canadian soil to a Guatemalan village, the site of a political massacre during that country's civil war. Although the bloody struggles that took the lives of thousands occurred from 1962 to 1996, an international team of forensic experts that includes Dr. Temperance Brennan has been asked to excavate a mass grave site, identify victims and determine how they died. GRAVE SECRETS echoes Dr. Reichs's own experience in Guatemala two years ago, as her fictional counterpart learns first hand of the horrifying history behind the tragic burial site.

Even though Tempe has joined the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation on short-term assignment, she is finding it to be one of the most depressing projects she's ever been involved with. As the villagers look on, the team excavates an old well to remove the bodies of women and children murdered by government soldiers. They are hoping to find evidence that would identify those responsible and, more importantly, identify the victims so their families can give them a decent burial. Their heart-wrenching work is made even more stressful by an attack on two of their team members by what are presumably local thieves. One teammate is killed, but the other, left for dead, lingers in a coma fighting for her life. Local police officials converge on the GFAF camp soon after, but to Tempe's dismay their visit has an entirely different agenda.

Sergeant-Detective Bartolomé Galiano informs Tempe that she is now on loan to local police authorities to help investigate a series of local disappearances that have all the earmarks of a serial killer at work. The police have already found one body, and Tempe's reputation as a forensic anthropologist as well as her experience with a particular type of body disposal --- in a septic tank --- make her services invaluable. Tempe is incensed at being manipulated by her superiors in Canada, imposing on her to leave the excavation project, and Galiano's strong-arm approach doesn't improve her attitude. In addition, this case is especially sensitive since one of the missing is the daughter of the Canadian Ambassador to Guatemala. But Tempe's defiance finally falls apart when she learns that the missing persons are all teenage girls --- cases involving children have always been a personal priority. Despite the obvious and inexplicable antagonism from the local DA, the murder investigation gets underway, and the fractious relationship between Galiano and Tempe begins to take an interesting turn.

Recovering a body in a septic tank is not exactly an appealing prospect for Tempe; the disgusting sludge has to be combed through carefully for even the tiniest fragment of evidence. Given the decomposition factors in the concrete cesspool, identifying which of the missing girls was dumped here, and how she was murdered, proves to be monumentally frustrating. And the continued interference by the District Attorney puts a new spin on Tempe's and Galiano's growing suspicions that there is more going on here than a simple murder investigation.

Woven between the alternating storylines of the Guatemalan tragedy and the missing girls is the irrepressible humor and sarcastic wit that gives Reichs's extraordinary fictional character an engaging feistiness. And in typical fashion Reichs shifts gears quickly by throwing an unexpected twist into the murder investigation that sends Tempe back to Canada, thrusting the charismatic Detective Ryan squarely into her path once again. Their on-again, off-again friendship, which has lent levity to previous novels, is now a comic triangle as Reichs leaves Tempe dangling between the romantic temptations of both Galiano and Ryan.

GRAVE SECRETS has all the attributes of a first rate thriller: strong characters, powerful prose, and a tension-filled plot that bounces you through an endless maze of possibilities like a little silver ball. Reichs also interjects the usual detailed account of the forensic methods involved, in this case a particularly life-threatening method of examination and retrieval. While the scientific descriptions are never the least gratuitous, this particular portion of the story does deserve a word of caution to the uninitiated --- do not take this novel to the dinner table. Just imagine diving into a Port-A-Potty for something as minute as a contact lens and you'll have a pretty good idea of what's in store. But more importantly, her masterful mix of humor, suspense, and thought-provoking prose far outweigh any momentary discomfort fans might have.

The lingering impact of GRAVE SECRETS is that it seems to blur the lines of fiction and memoir in its palpable sense of personal grief. Her poignant tribute on the dedication page to the innocent victims of both Guatemala and our own recent tragedy is a vivid reminder that Dr. Reichs's two chosen professions are often intimately and irrevocably intertwined:

"I have touched their bones. I mourn for them."

   --- Reviewed by Ann Bruns (BkPageWC@aol.com)

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