Temperance Brennan - Character History

Character History

Dr. Temperance "Tempe" Brennan is a forensic anthropologist, who investigates human remains at crime scenes where the flesh is too degraded for a coroner to obtain evidence (victims of arson, mutilation, advanced decomposition, etc.).

Brennan is a native of Chicago who grew up in the Carolinas and one of only fifty board-certified forensic anthropologists in North America. As the series unfolds the reader learns more about her past and her family connections.

Before the first novel, Brennan left her husband, Janis "Pete" Peterson, and overcame a lifelong struggle with alcoholism; as a result she usually drinks only Diet Coke, or an occasional Perrier water. She then accepted a job at the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Quebec in Montreal, Canada. She divides her time between teaching at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte and advising on crime scenes, and spends about half of the year in each country.

Brennan has a daughter, Katy, who is in college. Brennan's younger sister Harriet (known as Harry) has a son named Kit. All three have featured in significant roles in the novels.

Brennan's cat, Birdie, usually accompanies her on her journeys between Montreal and Charlotte. She and her sometime lover Detective Andrew Ryan share a cockatoo named Charlie who remains in Montreal, while her husband's dog Boyd is often left with her in Charlotte.