Written in Bone

Starred review from August 20, 2007
In the exceptional second thriller from British author Beckett to feature forensic anthropologist David Hunter (after 2006's The Chemistry of Death
), the former GP investigates a suspicious death on Runa, a small island in the Hebrides. With the mainland official force preoccupied with a horrific train wreck that might have been the work of terrorists, Hunter must try to determine whether the victim was murdered. On Runa, Hunter finds a badly burned corpse with the feet and one hand oddly untouched, in a cottage that shows little fire damage. Could spontaneous combustion have been the cause? The suspense mounts along with the body count and the approach of a storm that cuts off the island from the outside world. While some plot elements may be a little too close to those of the prior book, Beckett does them better here, and is especially adept at blending first- and third-person narratives to heighten the tension.