Latest Reichs novel has Montreal appeal

Flash and Bones by Kathy Reichs (Scribner, 278 pages, $29.99)

NASCAR and Bones: the timing could not be more perfect.

Montreal has just played host to the stock-car race and one of its own - parttime resident Kathy Reichs - weighs in with another of her Temperance Brennan novels.

Reichs, who has parlayed the success of her books into a very lucrative television show called Bones, puts the emphasis this time on race car culture.

The 14th in the series, this novel is set in Charlotte, North Carolina. As always, the narrator is Tempe, a forensic anthropologist who divides her time between the medical examiner's offices in Charlotte and the Quebec provincial police division in Montreal.

Just prior to race week, a barrel is found in a landfill adjacent to the track. It's full of asphalt and contains a body. Tempe is asked to figure out who was buried and when.

A pit crew member by the name of Wayne Gamble comes to see Tempe when news comes out about the discovery. His sister, Cindi, and her boyfriend, Cale Lovette, both disappeared 12 years ago. Could the remains in the barrel be either Cindi or Cale?

Seems Cale was part of a political extremist group back in 1998. The police report at the time suggested the duo skipped town to get married. Wayne thinks not.

Tempe examines the remains and then the body disappears, as do all the records, both current and those a decade old. Hmmm, why is the FBI removing all traces of this crime?

Along for the ride with Tempe are a large detective known as "Skinny" Slidell and a charismatic disgraced cop, Cotton Galimore.

Reichs seems to be having a bit of fun 14 books in: Tempe observes that she'd rather have hemorrhoids than speak to her ex's new fiancee. There are scary bits and, as with every one of her books, Tempe is in danger at some point.And the parts about Jacques Villeneuve will appeal especially to Montrealers.