Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs

Deja Dead (Temperance Brennan, #1)

by Kathy Reichs

The raves are in -- from Edgar-winning authors and internationally acclaimed forensic experts: Kathy Reichs and D&éja Dead are something special.
Rarely has a debut crime novel inspired such widespread excitement. A born storyteller, Dr. Kathy Reichs walks in the steps of her heroine, Dr. Temperance Brennan. She spends her days in the autopsy suite, the courtroom, the crime lab, with cops, and at exhumation sites. Often her long days turn into harrowing nights.
It's June in Montreal, and Tempe, who has left a shaky marriage back home in North Carolina to take on the challenging assignment of director of forensic anthropology for the province of Quebec, looks forward to a relaxing weekend.
First, though, she must stop at a newly uncovered burial site in the heart of the city. One look at the decomposed and decapitated corpse, stored neatly in plastic bags, tells her she'll spend the weekend in the crime lab. This is homicide of the worst kind. To begin to find some answers, Tempe must first identify the victim. Who is this person with the reddish hair and a small bone structure?

Reviewed by ibeforem on

4 of 5 stars

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I’m a fan of the tv show Bones, and have had this series recommended to me numerous times, so I was looking forward to this book! I already knew that the tv show was only loosely based on the books, so I wasn’t surprised when I found out the book Tempe was older than the tv one, and that there is no Booth. Still, my knowledge of the show created a sort of disconnect for me, and I found myself reading this as though the book Tempe was an older version of the tv Tempe.

All of that aside, I did enjoy this, though I didn’t fall in love with it. It took me a while to warm up to Tempe, though I enjoyed the emotion she showed that the tv Tempe is often missing. There’s a lot of detail in this book so it’s not for the squeamish, but the plot is solid and keeps you guessing right up to the very end. It’s definitely a series I will read more of.

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  • Started reading
  • 28 November, 2008: Finished reading
  • 28 November, 2008: Reviewed