| Product: |
Deja Dead - Kathy Reichs |
| Date: |
20/02/08 (91 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: The first of a great series of Books.
Disadvantages: Still some unanswered questions.
I became a fan of Kathy Reichs some time ago when I picked up what seemed like a good thriller. I must admit that I do love these kind of books and particularly those with women detectives, or, as in many cases, female pathologists. I was reading Agatha Christie novels as soon as I was old enough to get them from the library and I've been interested in this genre ever since. I did read some reviews as well as a member of Ciao, some years back, and often read a book on the strength of a review. So you see, those reviews do tempt people to buy the books. I think I started out with Deadly Decisions, but since I own quite a few of her books I couldn't say for sure which one I read first. But somehow I never got around to reading her first book. Anyway, I was browsing the 2nd-hand books a few weeks back and picked up this one amongst others. I held back reading it as I wanted to give it my full attention.
The thing is, Kathy Reichs is a forensic anthropologist in real life and just happens to write thrillers about her work, though she doesn't use real cases, just the outline details. In her books the heroine is a sharp-talking quirky woman who gets into all kinds of personal scrapes. Her background was known to me only as is usual with second and subsequent books. I wanted to know who the character started out as.
The Plot
^^^^^^^^^
It might help if I explain the difference between a pathologist and a forensic anthropologist first. A pathologist does autopsies on bodies with flesh on them. When decomposition sets in and a body is reduced to a skeleton, then its time to call in an expert on bones...a forensic anthropologist. Dr Temperance Brennan (Tempe for short), is working for the forensics department in Montreal on a year's leave from her normal post in Carolina. The distinction is necessary knowledge as Montreal has a language all of it its own, French Quebec.
Tempe is busy reconstructing a shattered skull when a call comes in for her expertise. A body has been found in the grounds of an old monastery. Bones that turn out to be those of a woman badly beaten, mutilated and dismembered. This introduces the reader to the expertise of Dr Brennan as she explains what she is finding by her thoughts and as explanations to the local police force.
In her attempts to find out the identity of the woman, Tempe comes across some startling facts. Women have gone missing on a regular basis for years, the skeletal remains often found in shallow graves, the bodies mutilated and dismembered, and dumped in plastic bags.
However, she is unable to persuade the detective in charge of the investigation, Luc Claudel that the cases are connected. Even when a fresh body turns up, only hours dead, the detective and his team still refuse to admit that there could be a serial killer on the loose.
In the meantime, her only friend in the city, Gabby, is getting involved in a situation where she is rapidly getting out of her depth.
Tempe's involvement in the background research of the dead women leads her into clashes with both the detectives and also the community of the prostitutes that Gabby is using for her own research.
When Gabby goes missing and Tempe's daughter, Katy decides to visit her, the tension escalates with Tempe caught in the middle. Can she hope to save the life of her friend and convince the police that there is a serial killer on the loose before she loses those dear to her? Her only ally is Detective Andrew Ryan but will he back her up when the body count starts to mount up?
Characters.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Most of the characters in this first book will turn up in later books. That's why I was so keen to read about them before they became better known as Tempe's friends or grudging helpers, as it turns out with Luc Claudel. I also wanted to find out why Tempe is a teetotaller, especially with Temperance as a first name. I'm not giving anything away by saying that she's an alcoholic who doesn't drink. It's in all her books to some extent. Then there is the enigmatic Ryan who starts to become more than a friend and Katy, Tempe's daughter who manages to appear in all the further books.
It's Tempe herself who is so interesting though. She is something of a loner, yet her expertise is much in demand. In later books she gains that tough, wise-cracking woman dealing with prejudiced men and managing to get their backs up while still solving cases and often getting into danger as she does it. In this first book she is much gentler though. A wounded soul who is coming out of a broken marriage and struggling to find her place in a man's world.
Reichs manages to give depth to her characters, while coming up with some twisted individuals as her villains.
Prose and background details.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Like other women writers who have medical backgrounds, Reichs likes to go into some detail when explaining how her character goes about determining the age, sex, and cause of death when she has only bones to work with. You don't have to be a genius to follow these explanations, but some I found fascinating as reading material, while other parts made me feel quite disturbed. I suspect that's part of my nature. My imagination is highly developed so I can picture some of the gory details.
I did find some of the background of the various judicial departments a bit lengthy, though I think as a precursor to later books it's a necessary evil. Some parts I found to be just a little too much detail and I wanted more action. Since this is her first book I suspect that she was already paving her way for future books.
One thing that I did find exceptional in this book was the dialogue. In real life Reichs does spend time (as does her heroine), between America and Canada. The dialogue is peppered with French speech, though it bears only a passing resemblance to the French of France. I found most of it easy to understand and preferred not to have every sentence in the patios of the country explained to me. It's fairly easy to take it in the context it's written anyway.
You won't find a lot of description of the countryside in this book. Enough to give you a feel for the city, but otherwise it could have been any city in any state of America.
Summary.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
As a first book this took the literary world by storm. More descriptive horror appealed to many people, (myself included) and the fact that the author was a practising expert in the same field obviously helped to sell her books. Her writing is good. As a first book I loved it. her later ones are polished but lack that spontaneity of this earlier one.
It seems to be the same with most first books. Just look at Minette Walters debut, "The Sculptress" and you'll know what I mean. I still felt that my questions hadn't been answered though. What made Dr Temperance Brennan a recovering alcoholic? Why did her marriage break up? Why is she still so vulnerable in later books as in this first one, as she later adopts that sassy attitude beloved of many crime authors.
Don't get me wrong, I love the character. I just felt a bit disappointed that I wasn't let into the secret. It's still a great book though.
You can probably find this as I did, in second-hand book shops or on Amazon or eBay at discount prices.
Finally, Reichs books all have titles that are double D's. Deja Dead, Death du Jour, Deadly Descisons etc. Hence the title. Strange then, that Reichs has a series on the television now that's called simply "Bones".
Thanks for reading.
ŠLisa Fuller.
Summary: A Great introduction to a brilliant crime writer.
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