Temperance Daessee Brennan is a

fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

character created by author

Kathy Reichs Dr. Kathleen Joan Reichs (PhD) (née Toelle, born July 7, 1948) is an American crime writer, forensic anthropologist and academic. She is a professor emerita of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is well known ...

, and is the hero of her crime novel series (which are usually referred to as the Temperance Brennan novels). She was introduced in Reichs'

first novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, '' Déjà Dead'', which was published in 1997. All the novels are written in the first person, from Brennan's viewpoint. Like her creator, Brennan is a forensic anthropologist. In a number of novels it is indicated that Brennan's background lies in physical anthropology, rather than medicine, and throughout the novels she stresses the importance of correct crime scene process.

Character history

Dr. Temperance "Tempe" Brennan is a forensic anthropologist, who investigates human remains at crime scenes where the flesh is too degraded for a coroner to obtain evidence (victims of arson, mutilation, advanced decomposition, etc.). Brennan is a native of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

who grew up in the

Carolinas The Carolinas, also known simply as Carolina, are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the southwes ...

and one of only fifty board-certified forensic anthropologists in North America. As the series unfolds the reader learns more about her past and her family connections. Before the first novel, Brennan left her husband, Janis "Pete" Peterson, and overcame a lifelong struggle with

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

; as a result she usually drinks only

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, or an occasional Perrier water. She then accepted a job at the for the province of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. She divides her time between teaching at the University of

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in Charlotte and advising on crime scenes, and spends about half of the year in each country. Brennan has a daughter, Katy, who initially is in college. Brennan's younger sister Harriet (known as Harry) has a son named Kit. All three have featured in significant roles in the novels. Kit's daughter Tory Brennan features in the '' Virals'' series of novels written by Kathy with her son Brendan Reichs. Brennan's cat, Birdie, usually accompanies her on her journeys between Montreal and Charlotte. She and her sometime lover Detective Andrew Ryan share a cockatiel named Charlie who remains in Montreal, while her husband's Chow cross dog Boyd is often left with her in Charlotte.

The Temperance Brennan novels

There are currently twenty-five books in the series. Temperance Brennan also makes cameo appearances in Jasper Fforde's 2007 novel '' First Among Sequels'' and in Reichs' Virals series of novels. #'' Déjà Dead'' (1997) #'' Death du Jour'' (1999) #'' Deadly Decisions'' (2000) #'' Fatal Voyage'' (2001) #'' Grave Secrets'' (2002) #'' Bare Bones'' (2003) #'' Monday Mourning'' (2004) #'' Cross Bones'' (2005) #'' Break No Bones'' (2006) #'' Bones to Ashes'' (2007) #'' Devil Bones'' (2008) #'' 206 Bones'' (2009) #'' Spider Bones'' (2010) (Also published as ''Mortal Remains'') #'' Flash and Bones'' (2011) #'' Bones are Forever'' (2012) #'' Bones of the Lost'' (2013) #'' Bones Never Lie'' (2014) #'' Speaking in Bones'' (2015) #'' The Bone Collection'' (2016) - A short story collection including First Bones (#0.5, a prequel to Déjà Dead), Bones in her Pocket (#15.5), Swamp Bones (#16.5) and Bones on Ice (#17.5). #'' A Conspiracy of Bones'' (2020) #''The Bone Code'' (2021) #''Cold, Cold Bones'' (2022) #''The Bone Hacker'' (2023) #''Fire and Bones'' (2024) #''Evil Bones'' (2025) Temperance Brennan also features in four downloadable short stories.

Appearances in other media

The character shares the same name with the protagonist of the American

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

'' Bones'', whose character was not based on Reichs' books or the Brennan of her books but rather on the author herself. In the TV series, Temperance Brennan is played by Emily Deschanel. Reichs herself has stated that she sees the Temperance of the television series as a younger version of the novel Temperance. Reichs is an executive producer of the show, and oversees the forensic science aspect of the series. She also wrote the fifth season episode "The Witch in the Wardrobe", which shared some plot elements with her novel ''Devil Bones''. On the show Temperance "Bones" Brennan writes crime novels with a fictional forensic anthropologist named Kathy Reichs as the protagonist. Temperance Brennan also appears in the 2007 Jasper Fforde novel '' First Among Sequels''. Temperance Brennan also appears very briefly in the 2011 book ''Seizure'' by

. The story Faking a Murderer in the 2017 anthology '' MatchUp'' has Temperance Brennan appear in a crossover story featuring her and Jack Reacher from

Lee Child James Dover Grant (born 29 October 1954), primarily known by his pen name Lee Child, is a British author who writes Thriller (genre), thriller novels, and is best known for his ''Jack Reacher (book series), Jack Reacher'' novel series. The boo ...

's novels. The story was written as a collaboration between Kathy Reichs and Lee Child.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brennan, Temperance category:Literary characters introduced in 1997 Fictional physicians Fictional anthropologists Fictional characters from Chicago Fictional characters from North Carolina Montreal in fiction Characters in mystery novel series Crime novel series Mystery novels by series American detective novels American mystery novels by series Female characters in literature