
Dr. Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist who works at the Jeffersonian Institution and also writes books, has an impressive ability to read clues from victims' bones. Consequently, law enforcement calls her to assist with investigations when remains are so badly decomposed, burned or destroyed that standard identification methods are useless. Brennan is teamed with Special Agent Seeley Booth, a former Army sniper, who mistrusts science and scientists when it comes to solving crimes but who has developed respect for Brennan, both professionally and personally.

Extensive plastic surgery hides the identity of a body whose parts were found near an airport.

When a woman's burned body is found in a car with evidence that her child was kidnapped, Brennan and Booth's investigation leads to a suspect who is in the Witness Protection Program.

When the smashed remains of a famous artist are found in an impounded junkyard car, the team must race against the clock to find evidence of murder before the car is put on exhibit as the sculptor's ultimate display for the sake of his art.

A con man misleads the team during a murder investigation; Booth's younger brother, Jared, takes a job at the Pentagon; Brennan agrees to go on a date with Jared to a White House function.