Book Review: Wisdom of the Bones

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Wisdom of the Bones     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Christopher Hyde
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural
Signet, Feb 2003, $7.50, 416 pp.

In November 1963 in Dallas, homicide detective Ray Duval has received a death sentence from his doctor. In a year or maybe two, if he’s lucky, he will die of congestive heart failure. The only thing that is important to Ray is his job and he knows that he will never be able to pass the annual physical exam that he is due to take in a week.

On November 20th, Ray is called to the scene where a man is found in the city dump, sliced up, skinned, and decapitated and stuffed into an old icebox. He wants to solve this case before he is forced to retire but the victim had many enemies in both his personal and professional life. He gets a lucky break when he stumbles on the fact that over two decades ago, at least twelve children, most of them black died in the same way as the victim of Ray’s current case. When two more black children disappear in Dallas, Ray is sure that the deaths are all linked together and he intends to solve the case before dying.

WISDOM OF THE BONES gives the readers a sense of place during the Kennedy assassination especially with Jack Ruby threaded throughout the story line, being questioned by the protagonist about the case and ignoring his other activities. The who-done-it is well plotted and is solved by good old-fashioned police work that includes a lot of legwork. Christopher Hyde shows his ingenious ability to provide an atmospheric thriller inside a powerful police procedural.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner