Kathy Reichs, born as Dr. Kathleen Joan Reichs (née Toelle), is an acclaimed American crime writer, forensic anthropologist, and academic. Born on July 7, 1948, she is a professor emerita of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Kathy Reichs is renowned for her work which inspired the television series Bones.

Reichs is a forensic anthropologist for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, State of North Carolina, and for the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Quebec. She is one of only fifty forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and serves on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

A native of Chicago, Reichs received her Ph.D. at Northwestern University. She now divides her time between Charlotte and Montreal and frequently serves as an expert witness in criminal trials.

Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award - Best First Novel (1998): Deja Dead