BONES TO ASHES by Kathy Reichs was a welcome publishing event. Kathy Reichs is the inspiration and executive producer of the TV hit series, Bones.
I was afraid I had lost a good read to television production.
I like the Temperance Brennan character and back story in Reichs’ books so much more than I enjoy the television character.
As I’ve stated before, I like to read about people who work in parts of the country with which I am unfamiliar. The subject of this book involved two of my interests: Acadia history and Hansen’s Disease.
I also enjoy reading about French Quebec.
Here are some pretty descriptive passages and clues that I enjoyed:
“Her English was accented, neither the flat, nasal twang of the Midwest, nor the vowel-bloating drawl of the Southeastern seaboard.”
“Finally, blue patches appeared and elbowed back the clouds.”
“For example, most people in the US say they stand ‘in line’ at the post office. In NY, people say they stand ‘on line.’”
About writing in one language and having it translated: “Difference in pronunciation might affect the rhyme scheme. Also clues are to be had in cognates, words that look like they should mean the same in both languages but don’t. The word ‘gift’ in German means ‘poison’ in English. ‘Embarazada’ in Spanish, but in Puerto Rico instead of saying I was embarrassed, I’d said I was pregnant.”
“Is there a word for the grass strip between the sidewalk and the road?” Only in Akron is it called ‘Devil strip.’”
“Dayclean is a Gullah term for dawn. And in the South ‘ailing’ is colloquial for being ill.”
See there is a little to be learned even in the reading of “lite” mysteries.
