The raves are in — from Edgar-winning authors and internationally acclaimed forensic experts: Kathy Reichs and Déjà Dead are something special. Rarely has a debut crime novel inspired such widespread excitement. A born storyteller, Dr. Kathy Reichs walks in the steps of her heroine, Dr. Temperance Brennan. She spends her days in the autopsy suite, the courtroom, the crime lab, with cops, and at … with cops, and at exhumation sites. Often her long days turn into harrowing nights.
It’s June in Montreal, and Tempe, who has left a shaky marriage back home in North Carolina to take on the challenging assignment of director of forensic anthropology for the province of Quebec, looks forward to a relaxing weekend.
First, though, she must stop at a newly uncovered burial site in the heart of the city. One look at the decomposed and decapitated corpse, stored neatly in plastic bags, tells her she’ll spend the weekend in the crime lab. This is homicide of the worst kind. To begin to find some answers, Tempe must first identify the victim. Who is this person with the reddish hair and a small bone structure?
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The first in her Temperance Brennan series. All of these books are wonderful reads if you like crime fiction.
If you have ever watched the TV program Bones,Miss Kathy Reihs is a real medical examiner turned writer,
The book takes place in French Canada, where I have spent my summers so I know of where she speaks
It was my second home for years, up above Montreal and Trois Rivière in St. Matthieu and other places that I have known.
The first in a series of great crime/forensic anthropology novels.
I’ve read all Kathy Reichs books. I love the gritty science and original characters. Highly recommend all her books!
She writes about cases she’s had and you can picture what she is writing about.
Deja Dead was Kathy Reichs’s debut crime novel and inspired such widespread excitement. It won the 1998 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel. I really enjoy Kathy Reichs books, but they do get a bit technical in parts. She is an American author but has a tendency to drop into French dialogue. That might be off putting to some readers. However, I think Dr. Kathy Reichs is a born story teller. She walks in the steps of her heroine, Dr. Temperance Brennan spending her days in the autopsy suite, the courtroom, the crime lab, with cops, and at exhumation sites. I felt I was reading Deja Dead from an informed viewpoint and I liked that.
The story begins in June in Montreal, Canada and Tempe, who has left a shaky marriage back home in North Carolina, USA to take on the challenging assignment of director of forensic anthropology for the province of Quebec, looks forward to a relaxing weekend.
However, she must first stop at a newly uncovered burial site in the heart of the city. She only needs one look at thedeja decomposed and decapitated corpse, stored neatly in plastic bags, to tell her she’ll spend the weekend in the crime lab. This is a nasty murder. Tempe must first identify the victim in order to find answers. She must identify this person with the reddish hair and a small bone structure.
In Deja Dead, I did feel the only character that was complete was Tempe: the other people in the story were interesting only if Tempe paid much attention to them in her thoughts, which is how this story is filtered. This resulted in Tempe’s daughter, best friend, and ex-husband, who were all disappointingly selfish, being fairly absent of characterization besides the selfishness.
Nevertheless, I did enjoy this book very much and do rate Kathy Reichs highly as an author. I will read more of her work and recommend Deja Dead.
I like her books and have read most of the “bones” series. They are good reads, but sometimes too much technical info.
Love Temperance!
Kathy Reichs never disappoints! Her books are always interesting and give you a unique inside eye into anthropological forensics! She gives you just enough information to where you think you’ve figured out the mystery and then surprises you with the ending.
Love her books, good story, great plot
I really enjoyed reading this book the 2nd time. There were parts that were better the 2 nd time around. Great characters and well worth reading.
I bought this book because of the TV series that came later and is purported to be based on this character. This was a good book, except for some of the scientific, procedural details, which I found mostly boring and skimmed through. However, any relationship between the Tempe Brennan in this book and the one of the “Bones” TV series was only in the name.
Tempe Brennan is a favorite character
I enjoy all Kathy’s books. If you like mysteries, they are for you!
Like all her books
I thought I’d try something different but I definitely prefer the detective angle on this type of story. This one is long on scientific details and short on personal details, and I find myself longing for more information on human connections with this story. It did pick up with a tragic event about three-quarters into the book but the clinical storytelling fails to evoke much of an emotional response.
Enjoy the writing, believable. In depth descriptions.
Held my attention, interesting main character
I think it’s one of her first attempts. It’s good but a lot of tears and emotional switches, I enjoyed it. 4 stars
Couldn’t stop reading. The characters development was very through. I was afraid it would have too much medical jargon for me, the analytical description was easy to under stand. My 13 year old understood even the most technical terminal. I’ve see the TV show since the beginning been fan for years. Never had time to actually read the book. It was an amazing Book. Just when you think you know whats going to happen, BOOM!!!