The Breaking Point by Jefferson Bass

A few things before we delve into this book.  Jefferson Bass is not a real person, but the Body Farm is a real place.  Jefferson Bass is actually two people: writer Jon Jefferson and Professor Bill Bass.  Dr. Bass supervises the Body Farm, which is a research facility at the University of Tennessee.  Bass's pioneering work in decomposition has helped solve many cases.  The facility has been feautred in several NatGeo and other documentaries.  Jefferson fictionalized Bass into Dr. Bill Brockton, main character in the Body Farm novels.  I have LOVED all but one of the Body Farm stories.  Recently, the team published a "prequel" to explain the beginnings of the series.  This book follows that prequel and preceeds the first published book in the series.

A little history on The Body Farm: the facility takes donated corpses and subjects them to assorted conditions to monitor decay.  It simulates different scenarios a body may be in as it decomposes.
Bass's work in infestation by assorted bugs helps medical examiners determine time of death.

In The Breaking Point, Brockton (the fictional version of Bass) is starting to gain acclaim for his and his team's work.  He has already consulted on a number of FBI cases and is asked to help identtify remains after a high profile plane crash involving a rich humanitarian.  That same humanitarian, however, may be running more than disaster relief supplies and may be mixed up with a Mexican drug lord.  Brockton's credibility is called into question, helped along by an overzealous young reporter claiming Brockton's work on dead bodies is disrespectful to the dead (she uses military veterans specifically as an example to pull at heartstrings).  Brockton is reaching his "breaking point" when his wife of 30 years tells him she is dying of an aggressive uterine cancer.  How does he deal with all of this at the same time?

We are introduced to Miranda, Brockton's assistant in the subsequent novels.  She is one of my favorite characters in the novels.  We also meet the young versions of Brockton's grandsons, who provide comic relief throughout the series.

I suggest reading the first prequel Cut to the Bone before reading this one.  Trust me, you'll want to keep reading the series.