Product Description

The meticulously dismembered body of a woman is discovered in the grounds of an abandoned monastery. 'Too decomposed for standard autopsy. Request antrhopologic expertise.' Enter Dr Temperance Brennan, Director of Forensic Antrhopology for the province of Quebec, who has been researching recent disappearances in the city. Despite the deep cynicism of Detective Claudel who head the investigation, Brennan is convinced that a serial killer is at work. Her forensic expertise finally convinces Claudel, but only after the body count has risen...Tempe takes matters into her own hands, but her determined probing places those closest to her in mortal danger. Can Tempe make her crucial breakthrough before the killer strikes again?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4363 in Books
• Published on: 1998-01-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Reichs' stunning debut thriller draws on her experience as a forensic anthropologist in North Carolina and Montreal, but it has considerably more going for it than the mere stamp of authenticity. The devil is in the details, and it is the small betraying details--the alignment of cuts in bloody bone--that convince Temperance Brennan that a series of women, murdered in different ways, were killed and dismembered by the same hand and the same saw. Knowing what she knows is one thing, but convincing her police colleagues is quite another.

Reichs skilfully depicts police canteen culture and the way it ensures that someone who is an expert outsider, not one of the lads, is always going to have to go that extra mile to prove herself and her ideas. Brennan is a toughie, though, and not too fussy about demarcation disputes. Reichs has found a way of having her cake and eating it and giving us a detective who combines professional expertise with enthusiastic amateurism. Even more compellingly, the suspense is turned up several notches when Brennan realizes that she is hunted as well as hunter--they find the killer's lair and find her photograph among his trophies... --Roz Kaveney

About the Author
Kathy Reichs is forensic anthropologist for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, State of North Carolina, and for the Laboratorie de Sciences Judiciaires et de Medecine Legale for the province of Quebec. She is one of only fifty-six forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Antrhopology, and served on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. A professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Dr Reichs is a native of Chicago, hwere she received her Ph.D at Northwestern. She divides her time between Charlotte and Montreal, and is a frequent expert witness in criminal trials.

Customer Reviews

A superb debut novel
'Deja Dead' is the first book in the Temperance "Tempe" Brennan series, written by Kathy Reichs. I'd never read a Reichs book before (and have never seen the TV adaptation "Bones" either) but fancied giving this series a go, mainly due to the massive amount of comparisons there are to Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series, which I am a huge fan of.

The story begins when the forensic anthropologist is called out to a crime scene where a mutilated and heavily decomposed body is found. After examining the victim's bones Tempe sees similarities from some other recent cases which makes her believe that there is a possible serial killer at large. She then gathers the evidence together to try to convince detectives Claudel and Ryan of this, but this results in putting her own life and the lives of her family and friend in danger.

The book is very well written although is quite slow to begin with. During a particualar part near the middle of the book I found it to be very creepy indeed. The gore in this book is also by the bucketloads (mainly due to precise details). As this is written in first-person perspective, Tempe's character is easy to get on with with her quick dialogue, thorough descriptions and thoughts, which are both very explanatory and sometimes humorous. Tempe's relationships with Ryan and Katy (her daughter) are two that I am interested in seeing how they develop and how Reichs goes with them, as there was a maybe spark of romance with Ryan in this book and her daughter wasn't in it a great deal.

My only real complaint would be that there are perhaps a few too many characters to familiarise yourself with for a debut novel. Reichs should of maybe let the reader get to know the main lead characters in this book a little more and just mentioned the others and then introduced them gradually in the next books, as it really does get a bit much at times.

Overall, 'Deja Dead' is a great start to a now long-running series and is one that I'm definitely going to stick with and I look forward to seeing how the series progresses. With regards to the comparisons to Cornwell - yes, there are similarities but in my opinion they should both be looked at seperately as they are both completely different series.

Refreshing
After becoming thoroughly bored with the Scarpetta series from Patricia Cornwell I came across Kathy Reichs and although knowing nothing about the author I decided to order this book. And thank goodness I did. This book is fast paced, moving, detailed and a real page turner. I was hooked from the opening sentence. In fact, so was my boyfriend who manages to read 1 book a year - now that is saying something about how good this book is!!!

Scared me half to death!
I decided to start reading Kathy Reichs because I fell in love with the Bones series. For a larger novel, it's only taken me three days to read it. It's a real page turner and the end of every chapter leaves you gasping for more. It terrified me more than any thriller or chiller on the telly. I guess it's more scary because you have the visual element in your own head. Reichs describes everything perfectly. Whilst I understand that another reviewer said she has no 'writing flair' I actually find that I enjoy reading the long, detailed, pathologist-worded, graphic accounts. I always wanted to be a pathologist but discovered later in life that perhaps it wasn't a job well suited to me. Reading this novel was like being the main character, feeling every emotion, being in her shoes. Fantastic!. The only problem is now that the book scared me half to death, dare I read the next installment?

I discovered quite early on in the novel that it was going to frighten me. Curled up on the sofa I kept looking over my shoulder, daring myself to continue. I wanted to know what was going to happen but every page brought me closer to a personal fear, my heart caught up in my throat, my adrenalin cursing through my body (a harder work out than any trip to the gym). I found myself checking the locks when I went to bed. Is that the sign of a good book or not? You better read it to find out....