A palette cleanser. 2.5 stars. 
 As someone who reads mostly fantasy books, every now and then I read a 'palette cleanser.' These are typically crime fiction books. Bones to Ashes was no different. I don't buy crime fiction full-price, rather I practice the charity shop suprise and pick something up because crime fiction can be SO HIT AND MISS!! In this book, it was a miss. 
 The story follows Temperance on a mission to find out what happened to her childhood friend. It was over 400 pages and I can't say i was drawn in once. It was a shuffle down mystery lane if you like. The twists were gentle curves that didn't shock, the story was odd odd odd, and the tie in with leprosey was a random wild card until the very end where it provided a small explanation. 
 What got me is the flipping stereotypical life of anyone in the justice system. Everyone has rocky relationships, eats microwave meals, their kids are out of the picture and they work weird hours. As someone who works within the Justice System on the reg, the latter may be the only thing true to life. I don't know if I'm the only one but I'm SO BORED of this stereotype. Can we not have one law enforcementt officer/detective/forensic pathologist who is young, single and not an alcholic/divorcee/estranged parent? PLEASE. 
 This book did what I needed it too and got me out of a reading slump and craving something better. 
 Overall, this is a bleh book. There are far better crime fiction books available. I've already redonated this book to a charity shop, never for me to read again.