Dr. Temperance Brennan is a highly skilled forensic anthropologist who works at the Jeffersonian Institute and writes novels as a sideline. When the standard methods of identifying a body are deemed useless--when the remains are so badly decomposed, burned or destroyed that CSI gives up-- law enforcement calls in Brennan for her uncanny ability to read clues left behind in the victim's bones. Most law enforcement is unable to handle Brennan's intelligence, her drive for the truth, or the way she flings herself headlong into every investigation. FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth is the exception. A former Army sniper, Booth mistrusts science and scientists--the "squints," as he calls them, who pour over the physical evidence-- when it comes to solving crimes. But even he cannot deny that the combination of his people-smarts and Brennan's scientific acumen make them a formidable team.