The Inquisitor's Key by Jefferson Bass

Miranda Lovelady, Dr. Bill Brockton's protege, is spending the summer helping excavate a newly discovered chamber beneath the spectacular Palace of the Popes in Avignon, France. There she discovers a stone chest inscribed with a stunning claim: inside lie the bones of none other than Jesus of Nazareth. Faced with a case of unimaginable proportions, Miranda summons Brockton for help proving or refuting the claim. Both scientists are skeptical--after all, fake relics abounded during the Middle Ages--but evidence for authenticity looks strong initially, and soon grows stronger.

Brockton and Miranda link the bones to the haunting image on the Shroud of Turin, revered by millions as the burial cloth of Christ, and then a laboratory test finds the bones to be two thousand years old. The finding triggers a deadly tug-of-war between the anthropologists, the Vatican, and a deadly zealot who hopes to use the bones to bring about the Second Coming--and trigger the end of time.

Set against an international landscape, and weaving a rich tapestry of religion, history, art, and science, The Inquisitor's Key takes Jefferson Bass to an exciting new level of suspense.

So I read Madonna & Corpse before this, not knowing much about it aside from that it was billed on Good Reads as "Book 6.5 in the Body Farm Series". It's not so much a book as a prelude. There is no mention of the Body Farm, but it sets you up nicely to head straight into The Inquisitor's Key (lucky me, I had it ready and waiting on my Kindle or I think I might've gone mad!).

Which also turned out to be a very un-Body Farm novel, aside from the characters we've grown to love. It is set in France and made for an interesting story. I really quite enjoyed it :) Although I'm a little concerned about the whole "Brockton wondering how he feels about Miranda" bit. #sigh Do all books (and TV shows: Castle, Bones etc) have to devolve into this?

But yeah, aside from that, and the fact that the whole historical bit was a little hard to follow because I wasn't really sure who was who when they reverted to that part of the storyline every few chapters or so. But I got the hang of it by the end ;) Bonus points for the whole Shroud of Turin tie-in, since that fascinates me too!

* This book is part of the Body Farm series: Carved in Bone (2006), Flesh and Bone (2007), The Devil's Bones (2008), Bones of Betrayal (2009), The Bone Thief (2010), The Bone Yard (2011), ~Madonna and Corpse (2012), The Inquisitor's Key (2012), ~Jordan's Stormy Banks (2013), Cut to the Bone (2013)