Flesh and Bone: A Body Farm \t\t Novel

At the start of the entertaining second Body Farm novel from the \t\t pseudonymous Bass (the writing team of forensic anthropologist Dr. Bill Bass \t\t and journalist Jon Jefferson), Dr. Bill Brockton ties a dead man dressed in \t\t drag to a tree at the Body Farm (a facility he heads outside Knoxville, Tenn., \t\t devoted to researching postmortem decay), in an effort to replicate a recent \t\t murder. Dr. Bill's just beginning a romantic relationship with another \t\t participant in this experiment, Chattanooga medical examiner Dr. Jess Carter. \t\t The story veers wildly from fascinating forensics with a high yuck factor to \t\t sophomoric and corny romantic byplay, often in the same scene. Fans of the \t\t bestselling first book in the series, Carved in \t\t Bone, and readers with a penchant for the gross and grisly will take \t\t to Dr. Bill, a hero with a big heart who isn't afraid to tackle complicated \t\t issues while solving mildly engrossing mysteries. Dr. Bass and Jefferson are \t\t the coauthors of Death's Acre, about the \t\t actual Body Farm. 7-city author tour. \t\t (Feb.)