Below is the complete list of Kathy Reichs books in publication order. For this series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Temperance Brennan Books in Order
- Déjà Dead (1997)
Déjà Dead was published in 1997 and is listed as book #1 in the Temperance Brennan series. - Death du Jour (1999)
Published in 1999, Death du Jour is listed as book #2 in the Temperance Brennan series. - Deadly Decisions (2000)
Deadly Decisions is a 2000 release and appears as book #3 in the Temperance Brennan series. - Fatal Voyage (2001)
In the Temperance Brennan series, Fatal Voyage is book #4 and was published in 2001. - Grave Secrets (2002)
Grave Secrets was first published in 2002; within the Temperance Brennan series, it is listed as book #5. - Bare Bones (2003)
Bare Bones was published in 2003 and is listed as book #6 in the Temperance Brennan series. - Monday Mourning (2004)
Published in 2004, Monday Mourning is listed as book #7 in the Temperance Brennan series. - Cross Bones (2005)
Cross Bones is a 2005 release and appears as book #8 in the Temperance Brennan series. - Break No Bones (2006)
In the Temperance Brennan series, Break No Bones is book #9 and was published in 2006. - Bones to Ashes (2007)
Bones to Ashes was first published in 2007; within the Temperance Brennan series, it is listed as book #10. - Devil Bones (2008)
Devil Bones was published in 2008 and is listed as book #11 in the Temperance Brennan series. - 206 Bones (2009)
Published in 2009, 206 Bones is listed as book #12 in the Temperance Brennan series. - Spider Bones / Mortal Remains (2010)
Spider Bones / Mortal Remains is a 2010 release and appears as book #13 in the Temperance Brennan series. - Flash and Bones (2011)
In the Temperance Brennan series, Flash and Bones is book #14 and was published in 2011. - Bones Are Forever (2012)
Bones Are Forever was first published in 2012; within the Temperance Brennan series, it is listed as book #15. - Bones in Her Pocket (2013)
Bones in Her Pocket was published in 2013 and is listed as book #16 in the Temperance Brennan series. - Bones ofthe Lost (2013)
Published in 2013, Bones ofthe Lost is listed as book #17 in the Temperance Brennan series. - Swamp Bones (2014)
Swamp Bones is a 2014 release and appears as book #18 in the Temperance Brennan series. - Bones Never Lie (2014)
In the Temperance Brennan series, Bones Never Lie is book #19 and was published in 2014. - Bones on Ice (2015)
Bones on Ice was first published in 2015; within the Temperance Brennan series, it is listed as book #20. - Speaking in Bones (2015)
Speaking in Bones was published in 2015 and is listed as book #21 in the Temperance Brennan series. - A Conspiracy of Bones (2018)
Published in 2018, A Conspiracy of Bones is listed as book #22 in the Temperance Brennan series. - The Bone Code (2021)
The Bone Code is a 2021 release and appears as book #23 in the Temperance Brennan series. - Cold, Cold Bones (2022)
In the Temperance Brennan series, Cold, Cold Bones is book #24 and was published in 2022. - The Bone Hacker (2023)
The Bone Hacker was first published in 2023; within the Temperance Brennan series, it is listed as book #25. - Fire and Bones (2024)
Fire and Bones was published in 2024 and is listed as book #26 in the Temperance Brennan series. - Evil Bones (2025)
Published in 2025, Evil Bones is listed as book #27 in the Temperance Brennan series.
Temperance Brennan Collections Books in Order
- The Bone Collection (2016)
The Bone Collection was published in 2016 and is listed as book #1 in the Temperance Brennan Collections series.
Temperance Brennan Short Stories/Novellas Books in Order
- First Bones (2016)
First Bones was published in 2016 and is listed as book #1 in the Temperance Brennan Short Stories/Novellas series.
Bones Books
with Max Allan Collins
- Buried Deep (2006)
Buried Deep was published in 2006 and is listed as book #1 in the Bones Bookswith Max Allan Collins series.
Tory Brennan (Virals) Books
with Brendan Reichs
- Shock (2009)
Shock was published in 2009 and is listed as book #1 in the Tory Brennan (Virals) Bookswith Brendan Reichs series. - Virals (2010)
Published in 2010, Virals is listed as book #2 in the Tory Brennan (Virals) Bookswith Brendan Reichs series. - Seizure (2011)
Seizure is a 2011 release and appears as book #3 in the Tory Brennan (Virals) Bookswith Brendan Reichs series. - Shift (2013)
In the Tory Brennan (Virals) Bookswith Brendan Reichs series, Shift is book #4 and was published in 2013. - Code (2013)
Code was first published in 2013; within the Tory Brennan (Virals) Bookswith Brendan Reichs series, it is listed as book #5. - Swipe (2013)
Swipe was published in 2013 and is listed as book #6 in the Tory Brennan (Virals) Bookswith Brendan Reichs series. - Exposure (2014)
Published in 2014, Exposure is listed as book #7 in the Tory Brennan (Virals) Bookswith Brendan Reichs series. - Terminal (2015)
Terminal is a 2015 release and appears as book #8 in the Tory Brennan (Virals) Bookswith Brendan Reichs series. - Spike (2016)
In the Tory Brennan (Virals) Bookswith Brendan Reichs series, Spike is book #9 and was published in 2016. - Trace Evidence (2016)
Trace Evidence was first published in 2016; within the Tory Brennan (Virals) Bookswith Brendan Reichs series, it is listed as book #10.
Standalone Novels Books in Order
- Two Nights (2017)
Two Nights was published in 2017 and is listed as book #1 in the Standalone Novels series.
Non-Fiction Books in Order
- Inside The Forensic Files of Dr Kathy Reichs (2003)
Inside The Forensic Files of Dr Kathy Reichs was published in 2003 and is listed as book #1 in the Non-Fiction series.
The MatchUp Collection Books in Order
- Honor & … (2017)
(By C.J. Box, Sandra Brown)
Honor & … was published in 2017 and is listed as book #1 in the The MatchUp Collection series. - Deserves to Be Dead (2017)
(By John Sandford, Lisa Jackson)
Published in 2017, Deserves to Be Dead is listed as book #2 in the The MatchUp Collection series. - Getaway (2017)
(By Lisa Scottoline, Nelson DeMille)
Getaway is a 2017 release and appears as book #3 in the The MatchUp Collection series. - Midnight Flame (2018)
(By Christopher Rice, Lara Adrian)
In the The MatchUp Collection series, Midnight Flame is book #4 and was published in 2018. - Short Story (2019)
(By Karin Slaughter, Michael Koryta)
Short Story was first published in 2019; within the The MatchUp Collection series, it is listed as book #5. - Past Prologue (2019)
(By Diana Gabaldon, Steve Berry)
Past Prologue was published in 2019 and is listed as book #6 in the The MatchUp Collection series. - Faking a Murderer (2019)
(With Lee Child)
Published in 2019, Faking a Murderer is listed as book #7 in the The MatchUp Collection series. - Dig Here (2019)
(By Charlaine Harris, Andrew Gross)
Dig Here is a 2019 release and appears as book #8 in the The MatchUp Collection series. - Taking the Veil (2019)
(By J.A. Jance, Eric Van Lustbader)
In the The MatchUp Collection series, Taking the Veil is book #9 and was published in 2019. - Rambo on Their Minds (2019)
(By Gayle Lynds, David Morrell)
Rambo on Their Minds was first published in 2019; within the The MatchUp Collection series, it is listed as book #10. - Footloose (2019)
(By Val McDermid, Peter James)
Footloose was published in 2019 and is listed as book #11 in the The MatchUp Collection series.
About Kathy Reichs
Kathy Reichs occupies a rare position in crime fiction because her reputation rests on more than imaginative authority. She is not simply a writer who chose forensic detail as a genre flavor. She is a trained forensic anthropologist whose professional life directly shaped the fiction that made her famous. That background is the key to understanding both her career and her bibliography. When Reichs writes about bones, trauma, identification, and the long afterlife of violent death in an investigation, she is not borrowing the atmosphere from elsewhere. She helped define it.
Born in Chicago, Reichs trained in anthropology and eventually built a professional career that included academic work and forensic casework in both the United States and Canada. That dual life became central to her public identity once the Temperance Brennan novels took off. The most useful way to understand her fiction is not as a simple translation of real cases into thriller form, but as a blend of scientific knowledge and commercial storytelling. She brought a specialist’s understanding of human remains into a genre that had often treated forensics more loosely, and she did it without abandoning pace, suspense, or recurring-character appeal.
Her defining creation is Temperance Brennan, the forensic anthropologist at the center of the long-running mystery series that began with Déjà Dead. Brennan is the obvious anchor of Reichs’s bibliography, but the character matters for more than series recognition. Through Tempe, Reichs found a way to organize highly technical material into emotionally accessible crime fiction. The books are procedural in one sense, but they are also very much about interpretation: reading the dead, reconstructing erased stories, and confronting how violence leaves traces long after ordinary witnesses have gone silent. Reichs’s fiction often begins where many detective novels would otherwise end, with damaged remains and an incomplete human history that must be rebuilt.
That gives her work a distinctive tone. The Temperance Brennan novels are darker and more physically grounded than many puzzle-driven mysteries, yet they are not bleak for the sake of it. Reichs writes with a scientist’s attention to evidence and a thriller writer’s instinct for momentum. Her settings, especially Montreal, North Carolina, and other recurring professional environments, matter because they create a lived-in investigative world rather than a generic crime backdrop. Over time, the series became one of the major modern forensic mystery lines, not just because of the science, but because Reichs knew how to make scientific process feel urgent.
Her bibliography is best understood in two major branches. The first is the Temperance Brennan series, which forms the center of her career and the reason most readers seek out her books in order. The second is her work for younger readers, especially the Virals books co-written with her son Brendan Reichs. That series shows another side of her writing life: more adventurous, more overtly high-concept, and aimed at a different audience, but still shaped by her long-standing interest in investigation, evidence, and young protagonists trying to make sense of danger. The existence of both branches matters because it shows Reichs is not only a one-series author, even though one series very clearly defines her legacy.
Her career also has a wider cultural footprint because the Temperance Brennan novels helped inspire Bones. The television version is not a direct one-to-one adaptation of the books, and readers are often surprised by how different the literary Tempe Brennan feels from her screen counterpart. Still, the connection says something important about Reichs’s influence. She helped turn forensic anthropology into one of the most recognizable forms of modern crime storytelling.
What makes Kathy Reichs enduring is the combination of expertise and control. Plenty of crime writers research technical subjects well. Far fewer reshape a subgenre by writing from inside the discipline itself. Her bibliography holds together because the same promise runs through it again and again: the dead are still speaking, the evidence is still there, and truth can still be recovered if someone patient and skilled enough knows how to listen.