Death Du Jour

Death du Jour lives up to its name and Kathy Reichs lives up to our expectations. This was a great Forensic book and was one of those "I Can't put it down" books. I really enjoy reading these books and think that anyone who has liked Patricia Cornwell will love these by Kathy Reichs.

I always enjoy Kathy Reichs books. The forensic parts are amazing to me and I particularly like her realtionships with her sister, her daughter, her cat, and most of all Ryan. The mystery part kept me on the edge of my seat. Because I do know something about cults, I found the plot to be right on--even though I was hoping things might turn out a bit differently. It's always great to read one of these books when Reichs is describing winter in Canada. Because the heroine of my books is also named Tempe, I feel very close to Tempe Brennan. Marilyn Meredith, author of the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series, the latest being Wingbeat.

Kathy Reichs appearance as a mystery write was dotted with a dozen comparisons to Patricia Cornwell, who had already achieved considerable success with her string of Kate Scarpetta novels. The irony of this is that Reichs actually is the character she writes about, a forensic archeologist equally at home with analyzing the 100 year old remains of a potential saint or piecing together the shattered remains from a horrific fire. And while Dr. Temperance Brennan has her own relationship foibles and family issues, the holds not a candle to the goofiness that flows Scarpetta around. In this, the second novel in the series, Brennan starts out with the remains of Sister Elisabeth Nicolet - dead, buried, and reburied. She has been nominated for sainthood and the good doctor has agreed to examine and verify the remains. The corpse, however, conceals a genuine surprise, and the archeologist yields to the temptation to extend the investigation beyond the forensic into the history of old Canada, where plague and prejudice were bedfellows. The real mystery of the story starts with a group of bodies found in the smoking remains of a torched chalet and with the appearance of Temperance's sister Harry, who has suddenly become interested in a retraining and counseling program that has unexpected effects. When Temperance leaves Montreal and returns to Chapel Hill to teach for a semester she hardly expects this mystery to follow her. But that is exactly what it does, in the company of Detective Andrew Ryan who Temperance finds irritatingly attractive. This story is a tightly woven web with a terrible secret lurking within it. Everything Dr. Brennan values is at risk as evil and madness threaten to reach out and touch family and friends in a fatal pattern. By combine past and present in the novel Reichs manages to present a predictable plot in an unpredictable fashion. She will continue to build her characterizations in a realistic fashion which I find much more readable than the Scarpetta family of perpetual maladapts. Readers who are attracted to forensic investication while fine Death du Jour a treat.

Once again I was bowled over by Kathy Reichs. She manages to give her readers a wealth of information without ever talking down to them. She weaves subplots together like the master she's become, and in only two books. Though, sadly, she does at times withhold information from the readers that she shouldn't. If it's told in the first person and our heroine knows the info or clues, then we should too, however this is just a niggling and minor complaint and didn't really take away from the book at all.The book opens with Tempe in a church graveyard. A long dead nun is being considered for sainthood and Tempe is charged with aiding the Church's investagation. The bones aren't where they're supposed to be, but Tempe can't give this her full attention, because she's quickly drawn into an arson murder case that's tied in to a university student from North Carolina who recently joined a cult, then disappeared.Mystery, danger, action, suspense all add up to a five star winner for Kathy Reichs.Review submitted by Katie Osborne

This book really gripped me. I was on the edge of my seat, biting my nails (as she picked at her's). This offering is one that I could not wait to finish and it left me anxiously awaiting her next book. Much better than anything Cromwell has done so far.