Bones

DR. TEMPERANCE BRENNAN is a highly skilled forensic anthropologist who works at the Jeffersonian Institute in Washington, DC, and writes novels as a sideline. When the standard methods of identifying a body are 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 can't handle Brennan's intelligence, her drive for the truth, or the way she flings herself headlong into every investigation. SPECIAL AGENT SEELEY BOOTH of the FBI's Homicide Investigations Unit is the exception. A former Army sniper, Booth mistrusts science and scientists - the "squints," as he calls them -- who pore over the physical evidence of a crime. But even he cannot deny that the combination of his people-smarts and Brennan's scientific acumen makes them a formidable team.

Aside from Booth, Brennan is most comfortable with her equally brilliant colleagues at the Jeffersonian's Medico-Legal Lab. ANGELA MONTENEGRO, an artist who specializes in reconstructing facial features and crime scenes, is Brennan's earthy and bawdy best friend; "the bug guy," conspiracy theorist DR. JACK HODGINS, is an expert on insects, spores and minerals; and DR. CAMILLE "CAM" SAROYAN, the street-smart and centered coroner, must wrangle all the geniuses under her purview. Lending his professional expertise to Brennan and Booth is DR. LANCE SWEETS, a brilliant young psychologist who is equally adept at profiling murderers and interrogating suspects, providing "couples therapy" to Booth and Brennan and offering off-the-cuff psychological advice.