Dr Brennan soon finds herself immersed in the case and finds some unsavoury people along the way.
She constantly ignores advice from the police, including the apparently hot country cop.
By doing so, she puts herself and others in danger.
She toys with the feelings of her partner who lives a long air flight away, only to eventually work out some living arrangements.
This is a difficult book - and central protagonist - to like.
Leona: The Die is Cast also includes a female main character who is difficult to like.
Early on in the book, readers find out the main plot and who is behind the outrageous robberies which include a naked and bloody 7-year-old girl walking into a bank and walking out with millions.
The read is compelling, and just when readers think they can pick the ending, some complex twists and turns emerge, setting the scene for the second in a three-book series to be written.
Michael Robotham really delved deep into the pit when he wrote Close Your Eyes.
In an excellent read that is hard to put down, a mother and her teenage daughter are found brutally murdered in a remote farmhouse.
Clinical psychologist Joe O'Loughlin is reluctantly drawn into the investigation and finds himself at odds with police authority and dealing with a family issue which has meant him moving back in with his ex-wife and two daughters.
This book is a page-turner, but at times readers may need to stop, close the pages and take a breath before proceeding.
Being a fan of dark Scandinavian writing, I'm Travelling Alone was expected to be a bit shocking, and so it turned out to be.
Norwegian writer Samuel Bjork certainly provides some depth of detail in his characters.
If there is a better police investigator to be found other than Holger Munch in current fiction, he or she must be good.
Munch deals with young children being left hanging from a tree, his dying mother, attracting back his brilliant but reluctant partner Mia Kruger as, at the same time, he fends off political policemen wanting to take over the investigation.
Throw in a religious cult and some seriously strange drug-taking habits, and this book has plenty to commend it.
Lee Child has emerged with his annual Jack Reacher book.
It is always hard to judge whether any new Reacher book is better or worse than the last but this one is a cracker.
It involves a town with a crossroads running through the middle, a train making mysterious stops in the middle of the night, some disappearing people and lots of people getting ''Reachered''.
In an interview, Child admits he has no trouble dreaming up Reacher's violent fight scents but dreads bringing to life Jack's bedroom encounters.
The sex scenes in the latest book are restrained beyond the norm these days.
But they are significant enough to think Reacher and his business and love interest have more than just a casual relationship.
Back to the book: it is a beauty and a must-read for Reacher fans.
The plot may seem vaguely familiar but that helps readers understand Jack's need for retribution.
• Dene Mackenzie is ODT business and political editor.
