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Summary: Great title--Great book!
Review: If you like books about supposedly intelligent women consistently doing stupid things to create tension and excitement, then this is a book for you. Otherwise, give it a miss. While I like the characters in the book very much, it seems the author loses respect for them about halfway through - having them do very stupid, nonsensical things to create tension, excitement. Because I get so annoyed at a woman, supposedly very intelligent, doing something so stupid to put not only herself, but also her friends in danger - the tension becomes artificial, and, quite frankly, a let down. And it happens over and over again. One more thing - I just don't understand how a trained forensic anthropologist who must always work with things that most of us would find upleasant, could have such an impossibly weak stomach. She got nauseous a lot over unpleasant things in this book. Come on. She should be a stronger heroine!
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Summary: Tempe is back!
Review: Kathy Reichs has always been one of my favorite authors and I wait patiently for her next novel to come out. This year I was not disappointed! Tempe is in typical fine form; straight and to the point at work and totally confused in her personal life. I love it!
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Summary: Bored with Cornwell - Pick up Reichs !!!
Review: Plot, substance, direction, humour, sexiness, suspense.... brilliant !!! ...and everything that's currently missing from Cornwell's latest offerings. You can't go wrong with this book, it's interesting, easy to read and thoroughly enjoyable, as are all of Reich's books. Personally, I can't wait for the next one !!
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Summary: Studying old bones for clues in a macabre case.
Review: Temperance Brennan is on the job again in "Monday Mouring," the latest forensic thriller by Kathy Reichs. Someone has found three sets of bones in the basement of a Montreal pizza parlor, and Tempe believes that the bones belonged to young women in their teens. How did these bones get in this cellar and how long have they been there? This case is a tough one that gives Tempe many sleepless nights.To add to her problems, Tempe's relationship with Andrew Ryan, the Canadian cop she has been dating, is strained, and she suspects that he may be seeing another woman. In addition, the stubborn and obstructive homicide detective Luc Claudel gives Tempe a headache whenever she tries to convince him to follow up a lead. The pizza parlor case progresses slowly, with few clues turning up to help the detectives in their investigation. Tempe realizes that she will have to use all of her scientific knowledge and experience to find out who killed these girls, and, she hopes, stop the killer from hurting other young women. Reichs does a workmanlike job of setting up what proves to be a fairly standard thriller plot. What makes Reichs special is her tremendous attention to detail. Since she herself is one of the world's foremost experts in forensic anthropology, Reichs uses her considerable expertise to add fascinating details about Carbon 14 dating of bones and other obscure techniques to bring an element of realism to the story. A subplot about Tempe's friend, Anne, who comes calling when her marriage goes sour, does not move the plot along very much. The major weakness of "Monday Mourning" is the formulaic ending, which is filled with damsel in distress clichés and a few obligatory twists and turns. However, Tempe is always terrific, and the fascinating forensic information alone makes the book worth reading.
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Summary: Reichs heads back to the formula that works
Review: There are some authors whose books you buy just because you've read the rest in the series and you can't help but keep buying them, as bad as they sometimes get (Cornwell's Scarpetta books are a perfect example). Reichs' Tempe Brennan series is like that for me and I'm relieved that while she didn't knock my socks off with this one, she didn't disappoint like the last couple of books either. Tempe is back in Quebec for this installment, thank heavens. The interplay between Tempe and her Canadian colleagues always seems to sizzle, while the American connections drag and bore. The usual players are all back in action, including the oddball Chardonneau, cranky Claudel and of course, on again/off again love interest Andrew Ryan. The story is tightly packed into what seems like not as many pages as usual. The forensic details are exquisitely presented, apart from three yawn-inducing lectures about carbon dating, among other things. While there are a whole lot of implausible plot lines I can swallow in the genre, I have a hard time believing Tempe's boss LaManche has never heard of carbon dating. The basic plot line is interesting, the crime being solved is, sadly, easy to believe happened. The solving of the crime itself moves along at a relatively believable pace, although with others, I think the decision to have Tempe and her girlfriend investigate the crime themselves a la CSI was a poor decision on Reichs' part. Where this book fails is exactly where the past few have failed. The "romance" between Ryan and Tempe is not particularly interesting, no matter how blue Reichs wants to make his eyes. He's inattentive and secretive, she's snotty and throws tantrums. I don't know what on earth these two see in each other, unless it's all physical (Reichs makes sure we know Tempe is a gorgeous size 4 and Ryan is a tall hunk). The reason for Ryan's distraction is offered up on a silver platter right around page 120 or so, although we the readers aren't supposed to get it until the jarring end of the book. I can easily recommend Monday Mourning to any Reichs fan and to fans who've been turned off of the Scarpetta books because she lost focus on the forensics. Reichs is well-credentialed in forensic anthropology and it shows without reading like a textbook (apart from those three preachy parts). The Ryan romance angle could be dropped and I think both characters would be better for it. If Reichs really has to have some kind of sexual tension between her leading lady and someone, I would rather see her explore the odd hate/hate relationship Tempe has with the prickly but sexy Claudel. There was a glimmer of something hinted at in the final pages of this book, one that had more heat than all the scenes between Tempe and Ryan combined.
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Summary: Not what I expected, Better!
Review: This is my First Reichs novel, I typically don't care for female authors (don't ask why I guess I'm just a Macho kind of guy) but this is a gripping story from Ms. Reichs, plenty of twists in the tale! and the paceing is perfect, leading the reader steadily onwards, but never at the cost of those all-important passages or chapters which show the struggle to get to grips with the problems faced by Tempe Brennan, the Forensic Anthropologist for the province of Quebec. Explanations of the more complex scientific examinations are neatly woven into the on-going story, and Ms Reichs pays the reader the compliment of not feeling duty bound to lead them by the hand. Now I'll have to go back and read the others in the series! I do have to recommend one other book: "A TOURIST IN THE YUCATAN" By Brumfield, Some rough edges but overall a great thriller!
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Summary: Maybe best yet in unusual "skeleton doc" series!
Review: This is the seventh novel in the successful and best-selling Tempe Brennon, board-certified forensic pathologist, series. Tempe is an exact replica of author Dr. Reichs in real life: same job, same education and background, and same dividing her time between two job settings - one in Montreal (she speaks fluent French) and one in North Carolina. Early in the book, Tempe testifies as an expert witness, but this was really just a ploy to describe the glowing credentials of our two heroines (Tempe and the real life one) and establish just what it is that they do (sophisticated bone analysis) to assist traditional medical examiners and coroners. The plot per se gets cooking when three skeletons of undetermined age are discovered in the earthen cellar of a small pizza parlour. While the technical details get a bit much from time to time, Tempe eventually uses carbon dating techniques to determine the likely ages of the bones and to start developing realistic leads re the identities of the victims, seemingly all teenaged young women. A variety of somewhat undesirable people and businesses have passed through the pizza joint building, adding to the suspense. As usual, the Canadian cops hold Tempe at arms length as they have trouble getting excited about the case until it seems likely more current victims are at risk. The intriguing plot concludes with some first class detecting and a little bit of an implausible fire rescue scene with of course Tempe at the heart of the heroics. We've read this entire set and like the fresh territory it generally covers. While Tempe herself is not exactly that charming a persona, she has a great intellect coupled with a great caring about her work. Those factors combine to make her relentless in stalking the details and, when possible, the perpetrators of the crimes with which she's engaged. A love affair with cop Andrew Ryan is tending to get a little tiresome, and they are at odds throughout most of this story when Ryan appears to be "cheating". A best girlfriend of Tempe's (Anne) comes to visit and gets a lot of print, though we never were really quite sure how that fit into the scheme of things. Nevertheless, we found "Mourning" to be a superb addition to the set to date, featuring Tempe's detective work at her best, with a tremendously clever and satisfying conclusion. If one has not tried Reich's work yet, this one would make a great start.
Rating: 
Summary: an absorbing read
Review: While not quite as well executed (I thought) as "Grave Secrets," "Monday Mourning" was, nevertheless, an absorbing read; and once the pace picked up, about a third way into the book, an absolutely riveting read. Initially forensic anthropologist, Temperance Brennan, thought that the only big thing she would have to do this trip back to Montreal would be to testify at the trial of a murderer. But that was before she got involved with the grizzly finds in the basement of a pizza parlour. The skeletal remains of three young girls have been found, and the questions are: how old are these remains, and how did they end up in the cellar? The detective in charge of the investigation, Luc Claudel, believes that because the building is quite old, that the remains are probably from the early part of the twentieth century, and as such a problem for archaeologists and historians. But Tempe disagrees: instinct (plus a feeling of antipathy for Claudel and his quick rush to judgement, together with the deep belief that proper examinations on the skeletons should be carried out before any quick decisions are made) tells her that the remains are not all that old. And then she receives a mysterious 'phone call from an old woman who claims to know something about the skeletons. Unfortunately, a bad connection prevents Tempe from learning anything concrete from this mysterious caller. Was the call a prank, or did the woman really have valueable information? Frustrated by the lack of police interest, and prodded on by her visiting friend, Anne, Tempe begins to do some investigating of her own and finds herself face to face with evil that she's never quite experienced before... The story was an interesting and riveting one, and I did feel compelled to finish the book in one sitting. Fortunately the prose style was smooth, if a little spartan (and if I found the lecturer-like tones whenever Tempe or another one of the forensic team was explaining some procedure a little grating, that was just me); so that in spite of the fact that I found the whole subplot involving Tempe's friend, Anne, a bit distracting (ditto the entire subplot involving Andrew Ryan), "Monday Mourning" was still an absorbing read. I did however find that some things were tied up a little too neatly and not very credibly for me anyway -- why the murderer moved one set of remains for example, and why Tempe, not the police, was perceived of as an important threat from the very beginning. But perhaps this last "niggle" has more to do with fact that I'm not all that familiar with the series, and perhaps it is a well known fact that Tempe, not the police, is a force to be reckoned with? Whatever the case, if you're looking for a somewhat swiftly paced and interesting read, than "Monday Mourning" will definitely do. It may not be the best Tempe Brennan book, but it is up that with the better installments in the series.
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