Kathy Reichs

"Reichs" redirects here. For other uses, see Reich (disambiguation).

Kathy Reichs
Born	July 1948 (age 75) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Forensic Anthropologist Novelist Professor
Nationality	American
Genre	Crime, since 1997
Notable works	Break No Bones (2006)
Website
www.kathyreichs.com

Kathleen Joan Toelle "Kathy" Reichs born July 7, 1948) is an American crime writer, forensic anthropologist and academic. She is a professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte; as of 2013 she is on indefinite leave. She divides her work time between the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Quebec and her professorship at UNC Charlotte. She is one of the eighty-two forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and is on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Her schedule also involves a number of speaking engagements around the world. Reichs has been a producer for the TV series Bones, which is loosely based on her novels, which in turn, are inspired by her life. She has two daughters, Kerry and Courtney, and one son, Brendan.

Academic career

Reichs earned her Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in anthropology from American University in 1971. In 1972, she completed her Master of Arts in physical anthropology from Northwestern University, and in 1975 she completed her Ph.D. in physical anthropology from Northwestern University. Since then, Reichs has taught at Northern Illinois University, University of Pittsburgh, Concordia University, and McGill University, and is currently Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In the past, Kathy Reichs has consulted for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in North Carolina.

Reichs has appeared in Tanzania to testify at the United Nations's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She has assisted Dr. Clyde Snow and the Foundation for Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology in an exhumation in the area of Lake Atitlan in the highlands of southwest Guatemala. She was a member of the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team assigned to assist at the World Trade Center disaster.

Novels

In addition to technical books, Reichs has written 19 novels to date, which have been translated into 30 languages. Her first novel, Déjà Dead, won the 1997 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel.

The fictional heroine in her novels, Temperance "Tempe" Brennan, is also a forensic anthropologist. Her lifestyle closely mimics that of her creator, with Reichs stating that Brennan and she "have the same CV" and that "Some of Tempe's personality traits are also mine", but there are differences in their personal lives such as the character's alcoholism. A good portion of the novels are based on real life science, and Reichs has stated that she is "fastidiously conscientious about getting the science right". She has used experience from her career in her novels, and said about Déjà Dead that "Everything I describe in the book, I actually did". In the novel Grave Secrets, she uses her experience from her visit to Guatemala.

She has also written the young adult novels series named Virals centered on Tempe's great-niece, Tory Brennan, and a pack of her friends Ben, Hiram, Shelton, and wolfdog Cooper.

Temperance Brennan series

No.	Title	Published	ISBNs	Notes
1	Déjà Dead	1997	Paperback: 0-09-925518-9 Audio CD: 1-449-83348-9	Won the 1997 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel
2	Death du Jour	1999	Paperback: 0-09-925519-7 Hardcover: 0-684-84118-5 Audio CD: 0-754-05330-X
3	Deadly Décisions	2000	Paperback: 0-09-930710-3 Hardback: 0-434-00820-6
4	Fatal Voyage	2001	Paperback: 0-09-930720-0 Audio CD: 1-85686-927-X
5	Grave Secrets	2002	Paperback: 0-09-930730-8 Audio CD: 1-85686-928-8
6	Bare Bones	2003	Paperback: 0-09-944147-0
7	Monday Mourning	2004	Paperback: 0-09-944148-9
8	Cross Bones	2005	Paperback: 0-09-944149-7 Hardback: 0-434-01040-5 Audio CD: 1-85686-985-7
9	Break No Bones	2006	Hardback: 0-434-01042-1 Paperback: 0-434-01544-X
10	Bones to Ashes	2007	Hardback: 978-0434014620 Paperback: 978-1416525653
11	Devil Bones	2008	Hardback: 978-0743294386 Paperback: 978-1-4391-5440-3 Audio CD: 978-1846571336
12	206 Bones	2009	Hardback: 978-0743294393 Paperback: 978-0-4340-2005-8
13	Spider Bones	2010	Hardback: 978-1439102398 Paperback: 978-0-0995-5686-2	released as Mortal Remains in UK and Australia in hardback, reverted to Spider Bones for paperback release
14	Flash and Bones	2011	978-1439102411
15	Bones are Forever	2012	978-0434021130
16	Bones of the Lost	2013	978-1439102459
17	Bones Never Lie	2014	Hardback: 978-0345544018 Paperback: 978-0804194471
18	Speaking in Bones	2015	Hardback: 978-0434021192

Virals series

Main article: Virals

Title	Published	ISBN	Notes
Virals	2010	978-0099543947
Seizure	2011	978-1595143945
Code	2013	978-0099543855
Exposure	2014	978-1595145307
Terminal	2015	978-1595145284

Novellas

Reichs has released six downloadable short stories -

Title	Published	Notes
Shift	2013	Set in the Virals country, but featuring both the Virals characters and Temperance Brennan.
Bones In Her Pocket	2013	A Temperance Brennan story giving details of a case briefly mentioned in Bones of the Lost.
Swipe	2013	A Virals story, also featuring Temperance Brennan, set at Comic-Con in San Diego
Swamp Bones	2014	A Temperance Brennan story set in the Florida Everglades.
Shock	2015	A Virals story telling how they first meet.
Bones On Ice	2015

Television

Main article: Bones (TV series)

The 2005 Fox television series Bones is inspired by Reichs' life and writing. The series borrows the name of the books' heroine, Temperance "Bones" Brennan. As in the books, Brennan (Emily Deschanel) is a forensic anthropologist; however, there are many differences: the television character is younger, more socially awkward, and is based in a fictionalized version of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Additionally, the TV-Brennan moonlights as an author, writing about a fictional forensic anthropologist named Kathy Reichs. Aside from the character name and occupation, there are few tie-ins between the TV show and the books.

Reichs works as a producer on the show to "keep the science honest" and has appeared in the episode "Judas on a Pole" from the second season, in which she played Professor Constance Wright, a forensic anthropologist on the board conducting Zack Addy's dissertation defense. Additionally, she wrote the Season Five episode "The Witch in the Wardrobe" and the Season Nine episode "The Dude in the Dam" with her daughter Kerry.

Casey Anthony murder trial

Main article: Death of Caylee Anthony

In 2011, Reichs was an expert witness in the Casey Anthony murder trial. After initially refusing to be a part of Anthony's defense, she cited biased media coverage as the reason she changed her mind. “Initially, I said no, and then I started seeing media coverage and it made me angry. This woman needed to be tried in court, not in the press.” Reichs did a full skeletal analysis of Anthony's daughter, Caylee, but could not determine a cause of death. She concluded that there was no evidence of abuse and that the child appeared to be well-nourished.

References

• "Reichs, Kathy", Britannica Online Encyclopedia, 2009, webpage: EBc-KReichs.

External links

• Official website
• Kathy Reichs at the Internet Movie Database
• Kathy Reichs on Twitter
• Kathy Reichs: Turning a lifelong career into writing success at Jarrah Loh.com
• Kathy Reichs Interview Shots Ezine October 2012