Deja Dead

Deja Dead (1997) Kathy Reichs

Kathy Reiches was recommended to me by Ms Bookish, who (during my Great Book Giveaway) sent two later books in the series along for my grandmother. Reading those books piqued my interest, however, I really prefer to read a series in order if at all possible, so decided to pick up Deja Dead, the first book in the Temperace Brennan series.

After I started reading, I remember that at some point when I was a child, I decided what I wanted to be when I grew up was Quincy. But med school didn’t interest me in the slightest as I didn’t want to deal with living people, so that dream disappeared, to be forgotten for years.

Temperance Brennan does the stuff I wanted to do when I was little–figure out how people died and what or who killed them. And she isn’t a doctor, she’s a forensic anthropologist. Alas, at this late date I discover my dream job. Of course, in retrospect I don’t have the patience or dedication for be a forensic anthropologist, but it’s still cool to discover a name for what I thought would be an awesome job when I was in elementary school.

So Temperence (or Tempe) is a forensic anthropologist for the Montreal police (the title is more complicated than that, but this is close enough). She’s hoping to get away for the weekend, when a call comes in that some bones have been discovered, so she heads out to determine if the bones are human or animal, and if they are human, if they are ancient bones or part of a murder.

Her plans for the weekend are dashed when the immediately realize she’s looking at a murdered body. But over the months, things get worse for her, as she comes to believe they’re looking at a serial killer, but can’t find the proof to convince her co-workers.

First, this did read like a first book. But that’s not a bad thing. After all, everyone has to start somewhere, and I knew I was reading a first book when I started it. But it did mean there were a couple of weaknesses. I had a hard time with the sense of passing time. The case was a slow moving on, one the sense of time passing wasn’t always clearly made. But in the grand scheme of things, that’s not a big deal.

Several things she did I really liked: because much of the book read like a thriller, every time Tempe left the house I was expecting something bad to happen to her. Yes, the bad things did happen, but not always when I was expecting them. Yes, she made stupid choices, but she tried to be as safe as possible when she was doing things that weren’t safe or bordered on stupid. So very little TSTLS (too stupid to live syndrome).

And there were lots of twists and turns, which were interesting and unexpected. I’m always fond of the unexpected, as long as it makes sense. They felt like the way a real mystery or case would unravel, with mistakes an errors made by everyone.

So I’ve ordered the next book in the series, and eagerly await not just the next story, but also to see how the writing evolves.
Rating: 7/10

• Browse the archives:
  
• Death Du Jour » »
• « « To Kingdom Come