Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs

Both sets seem to have been tampered with by satanists which provides a local rabble-rouser with plenty of ammunition to attack the authorities.

Temperance — her name is ironic — goes off the deep end not once but twice, attacking the Godsquadder live on air and, a reformed alcoholic, hitting the bottle and losing a weekend — and then her job.

As for the men, there's her ex-husband who is besotted with a big-boobed bimbo, an ex-schoolmate who lost his wife on 9/11, and Ryan, the lanky Canadian who dumped her at the end of the previous book. Then there are the cops who try to help her — one of whom is shot — and a variety of suspects, some of whom like men as much as Tempe but pay a much higher price for their proclivities.

The protagonist may be all over the place but the plot is cleverly twisted and will delight devotees of the daffy Doc.

Synopsis by Foyles.co.uk

When a careless plumber accidentally knocks through a wall, he is horrified by what he uncovers. Called to the scene is forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan. Fighting her claustrophobia, and the unmistakeable sweet, fetid odour of rotting flesh, Tempe descends the precariously steep, makeshift wooden steps. What awaits her below is a ritualistic display: slain chickens and a goat - and a skull, ghostly pale, rests on a pedestal, the lower jaw missing, the empty orbits starring back at her. The forehead is darkened by an irregular stain the exact red-brown of dried blood, and lined with remnants of desiccated tissue. Two cauldrons stand nearby, beads and antlers suspended overhead. Age, race and sex indicators confirm the skull as that of a young, black female - but how did she die, and when? Then, just as Tempe is working to determine the post-mortem interval, another body is uncovered. The corpse is headless, the torso is carved with Satanic symbols. Could there be a connection? Must Tempe face the sickening possibility that Devil-worshippers are sacrificing human victims?