Death du Jour - Kathy Reichs

It is rare to find an author whose first book urges you on to want to read all of their published work. In my life so far, I have found very few – Diana Gabaldon, Jane Austen, Martina Cole – and now Kathy Reichs. After recently reading her first novel, I was soon reaching for her second – Death Du Jour. I have since bought all her novels from Ebay! Reichs’ heroine is Dr. Temperance ‘Tempe’ Brennan. Like Reichs herself, Tempe is a forensic pathologist based in Canada. As you would expect with such a job, this involves a lot of work with corpses. Hence, her books are not for children - or adults of a nervous disposition. But they don’t come across as ...  Read the complete review

After the impressive debut with “Deja Dead” (see my opinion on it lower down my list), I had very high expectations indeed for this second novel by Kathy Reichs. Then one month, there it popped up in my book club magazine (hurrah!) and off went my order. The blurb sounded fairly similar to the first novel, with an equally bland an uninspiring front cover. They really should get a different artist for the next one. I've bought many books beforte on the strength of the 'look' and information on the outside. If it wasn't for taking a chance with the first book i'm quite sure I would've missed this one too. This time they ...  Read the complete review

Death du Jour is the second book in the series starring Dr Brennan, and is just as good, if not better. This book starts with a bit more excitement that the last book, with Brennan exhuming (digging up) a body from the 1800's. Shortly after this there is a fire in a house where five bodies are found, including two small children who were only eighteen months old. These two stories run along side each other for a while, which does get a bit confusing at times. This book also details Brennan's life as a tutor of a class in a small town called Charlotte in America and again, she goes back and forth between here and Quebec, in Canada throughout the book, making it ...  Read the complete review

*Be aware this review does contain minor spoilers* Well I'm still working out the kinks in writing reviews of books but as I've started to read a lot more recently I thought I'd give it a whirl. My other half is a huge fan of crime novels so I borrowed 'Death Du Jour' written by Kathy Reichs for some bedtime reading and I must say whilst I found the plotline to be fascinating and brilliantly weaved together the overall result was very dull. Kathy Reichs is an American crime writer, forensic anthropologist and academic of the aforementioned subject and has written a string of books most of them which are loosely based on the hit tv show 'Bones' which ...  Read the complete review

I am not someone who likes to be patronised. In fact, it is one thing that will probably turn me against someone instantly. I don't need hints or subtle clues - if you want something from me ask me straight and I will reply with my answer. I find that the balance between informing a reader and patronising them is a difficult one. How do you get a breadth of knowledge across to someone without them feeling that you are lecturing them and not sticking with the story? In TV this problem often leads to an intelligent hero being stuck with a more simple side kick so that it seems natural to constantly tell them exactly what you are doing (and in turn inform the ...  Read the complete review