Rating: 
Summary: Like a rollercoaster
Review: This is the first of Kathy Reichs books I read (not the last).
The author took me on a rollercoaster ride with wave after wave of terror and excitement. This book moves from one level of excitement to another and another at a dizzying pace. I found it most gripping and compelling. I will read all of this author's novels.
A super read!
Rating: 
Summary: Good, Yes; Brilliant, No
Review: After her explosive entry into the thriller arena, Kathy Reichs slowed down a bit with this, her second foray into the life of forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. The plot is not as taut, the writing not as spare, and the characters less finely drawn than in her debut novel, "Deja Dead." Nevertheless, this is still a fun, fast read. If not as suspenseful as the first book, it still weaves a scary tale of a shady cult whose members, including infants, keep turning up dead.Temperance is a fascinating character and a welcome change from her fictional counterpart, Kay Scarpetta. Unlike Scarpetta, however, Temperance (Tempe), whose duties include teaching at the university level, is fond of lecturing. In Book 1, there was a highly technical and interesting discussion of all the different cuts that can be made to human bones, and why their differences matter. In this book, there is an informative but truly nauseating discussion of maggots and blowflies and their lifecycles on human cadavers. Strong stuff; not really necessary to the plot, but hey, I'll never look at a fly in the same way again. The problem with this book is that, at this early stage in the series at least, Reichs seems very uncomfortable with the human side of her characters. She can write about maggots devouring dead human flesh for pages at a time, but give her a love scene and she falls apart. Her stilted description of a sexy encounter between Tempe and her "partner in crime," hunky police detective Andy Ryan, had me laughing aloud--not the intended response. Equally unbelievable are Reichs' descriptions of Tempe's flighty sister Harry, and Harry's son Kit. That having been said, I still strongly recommend this book as a good, fast-paced read, and a welcome addition to the crime genre. I'm more than willing to let Reichs get her sea legs, especially when I can also enjoy vivid descriptions of Montreal during a brutal winter, and North Carolina at its balmy best.
Rating:
Summary: Now Ms. Reichs Starts To Cookin¿!
Review: In reading Kathy Reichs first book, I understood that this being a first effort, it was still an excellent book. With Death Du Jour, Ms. Reichs' starts to strut her stuff. The author had me hanging on to every page. Ms. Reichs moves her characters smoothly along with a very good and tight plot. Her character development is great, giving you little peeks into their private lives. The author doesn't bore you with a lot of medical or personal details, just enough to help the reader understand what is happening and why. Ms. Reichs is obviously a very intelligent person, but smart enough not to put her readers to sleep with her knowledge. I look forward to reading more about her heroine, Tempe Brennan and the rest of the characters. All of which, are very interesting and fun to read about. I highly recommend this series to any one who enjoys a good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Readable but not very memorable
Review: I found the reading of Reich's first novel, Deja Dead, to be a bit ponderous but all the scenes of Montreal really stuck with me. Still, the slow pacing made me reluctant to read her second book. Now I've read it - and it has almost the opposite problem. I had no problem with inhaling it in an evening. But when it was over I was left feeling unsatisfied. Fundamentally, the flaw in this book is the huge use of coincidence. Everywhere Tempe goes she runs into murder (the Jessica Fletcher syndrome). OK, I can deal with that. But that she happens to stumble onto murders in different countries that are related? That her sister just happens to fall in the circle of the murderers? Just too much for my pragmatic mind... I like Tempe and her supporting cast. I'm just hoping that this is only a case of second novel fails to follow the big debut and that the third novel will be a dandy.
Rating:
Summary: Solid Ground
Review: I thought Kathy Reich's first book "Deja Dead" was a quick, fun read, but a little sloppy. Given that the killer kept changing the method by which he killed, it was a wonder that Tempe Brennan actually solved the crime. (Aren't serial killers supposed to be consistant?) Anyway, the atmosphere was good and I'm a sucker for anything about Montreal. Which leads me to "Death du Jour." What a surprise to find Ms. Reich in such firm command of the genre in just her second book. She juggles several (try five) different story lines so successfully, you would think this was fifth or sixth in the series. Brava! I dare you to put this one down.
Rating:
Summary: Great mysteries, fascinating pathology...
Review: This is Dr. Tempe Brennan's second appearance and of the three Riechs books, I've read I liked it the best. The book opens with Tempe (in the cold Canadian fall) digging up the bones of a 100-year old nun who is being considered for sainthood (for her work during a smallpox epidemic). At the same time she is called out to a farm where a horrible explosion/fire has left a number of bodies to be identified. Finally, a young, nervous student disappears from a local university (suspected of joining a cult). As Tempe works away, her revelations send her home to North Carolina where more bodies are found and she begins to suspect that they are linked to the Canadian bodies. We learn more about Tempe in this novel as we are introduced to her sister Harriet, and she (Tempe) picks up a love interest (which of course, always makes our characters more interesting) - one that doesn't seem likely until it happens. The Dr. Brennan books are good solid murder mysteries with what seems to be the right balance of gore, mystery, and themes of societal relevance (cults, in this case). Reichs, as a forensic anthropologist herself, is very skilled in her pathologic descriptions. As one reviewer says so well, she, "she uses the science of death to reveal rather than to shock or startle." And this makes for outstanding reading.
Rating:
Summary: Another enjoyable mystery from Reichs
Review: All the pieces are here in Reichs' second Tempe Brennan novel. The complication of her nephew does its job dramatically, and the end is more dramatic and complicated than in her first novel, which is a good thing. This is a step up and I recommend it for easy reading.
Rating:
Summary: Quite good, though sometimes farfetched.
Review: I love the writing. I love the books. I just sometimes find it a bit strange that the mysteries from Québec *always* link back to North or South Carolina. But I have to say I'm glad, as Pat Conroy was the only person writing mainstream fiction set in that neck of the woods. The sense of place in these stories is remarkable, with just the right evocative details. The characters are finely-drawn and the plotting is rock-solid. The tension is just perfect. I recently buzzed right through my first two Reichs books with a great deal of pleasure. A very good read indeed. As a side note, I was a bit startled to find *myself* in this book. I've used the name Ivy Lee online for years, and I lived, until quite recently, near Beaufort, SC. That minor character was a bit of fun that made me wonder over and over if I knew Ms Reichs online! Just coincidence, I'm sure. Thanks for a brilliant bit of entertainment!
Rating:
Summary: Impressively real
Review: Generally I do not read a lot of narrative prose, but when I do my preferred genre is the murder mystery. My friend Mo recommended Kathy Reichs' Death du Jour to me because of my interest in the sciences and anthropology. I have to admit the book sat on my shelf for about 3 months before I finally got around to examining even the cover, but when I did the author's professional credentials engaged my attention. Dr Reichs is a forensic anthropologist trained at Northwestern University and employed by both the state of North Carolina and the Province of Quebec as an expert in forensics and by the University of North Carolina as a professor of anthropology. Her expertise is definitely reflected in the content of the novel. After reading the first few lines of the book I was hooked. So much was this the case that I finished it in the space of a single afternoon. Each of the characters is a real person with a distinct personality. The heroine Tempe, a forensic anthropologist--who is much as I imagine Dr. Reichs to be herself--is clearly defined as an individual. She has a past and a present and family relationships and problems much as we all do. Her sister Harry is not simply a carbon copy of the heroine. She too is an individual. The mise en scene of the action in both Quebec and North Carolina are vividly recreated for the reader. One can almost feel the damp bone-chilling cold of a Canadian winter and the balmy days of a southeastern coastline. Incorporating the little details of activity such as specific restaurants eaten at and things ordered there, specifics of the medical examiners' offices in Montreal and how the character proceeds with her work there add verisimilitude to the narrative. It is abundantly apparent that the author knows her setting and her topic with the thoroughness of the professional participant as opposed to the diligent journalist. To a certain extent, there is a rather more graphic description of each of the deceased than in many mysteries that I've read with a similar format, but there is no attempt to make the subject particularly sensational, just very, very real. Dr. Reichs' writing style is engaging and carries the reader along swiftly. The central characters are likable and human, much as those of Rita Mae Brown who's mysteries I tend to read just to "visit" old friends. Dialogue is realistic and is not gratuitous and designed to fill space but forwards the story well. Furthermore, it is well tailored to each of the individual characters, contributing to their three dimensional quality. Their mannerisms in speaking, their use of dialect all create a sense of "real people." The rhythm of the words encourages the reader to keep moving smoothly to the denouement. My one and only complaint would be that the conclusion of the story of Sister Elisabeth Nicolet, the threads of whose history is woven through the main theme, is not quite as interesting as it might have been and leaves one feeling rather more distracted than entertained. Certainly a mystery worth reading. If nothing else, you'll learn a lot about what forensics.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!!!!
Review: This was the second book of Kathy Reichs that I have read and I couldn't put it down. If you want to be drawn in to your reading this author will do it.
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