Rating: 
Summary: Long on dialog...short on substance.
Review: I think I am begining to realize that books which have page after page, after page, of conversation and dialog are apt to be short on action, substance, and depth. While I liked Reichs' other novels, this one--very early on--relates the murder of persons largely unknown to the reader and difficult to care about. Then the vast majority of the novel is banal converstaion, conjecture, and romantic inuendo culminating in a quick resolution of the thin plot in the last several pages...if you really still care.Not her best effort.
Rating: 
Summary: Should I compare thee!
Review: I think it is about time the publishers of Ms Reichs books dropped the" better than Cornwall "tag in their marketing. Why you may ask? To my mind set it is a bit like saying Shakespeare is better than a Mills & Boon , they clearly are not in the same league, therefore comparison is not relevant. Grave Secrets is a ripping yarn, fast moving, witty, sexy and intricately laced. If that wasn't enough it is also very well researched, Kathy Reichs knows her stuff, and is exceptional at making it readable
Rating: 
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the previous books in this series, but I was disappointed in "Grave Secrets." The story was confusing at times with too many characters and sub-plots. The writing style was flippant with too many one-liners and the on-going romance was immature and unsatisfying. I wanted more forensic detail and flowing description which I thought was missing entirely from this book. I hope the next book gets back to the basics which previously made this series so successful and a pleasure to read.
Rating:
Summary: Patricia WHO?
Review: I vow never again to read Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series. Kathy Reichs weaves a first-rate forensic story - without bashing the reader over the head with Cornwellian agenda. Prior reviews have set the scenario. "Grave Secrets" finds Forensic Anthropologist Tempe Brennan in Guatemala helping unearth and identify remains of "the Disappeared" victims of Guatemala's Civil War (1962-1996.) She soon becomes involved in Mayan murders, adolescent angst, and inter-Americas intrigue. I learned more about septic tanks than I ever really wanted to know (and we have one!) But I didn't have a problem swimming through plot twist and turns. There is a little too much romance/Scarlet O'Hara-at-the picnic "whatever beau shall I chose?" hand-wringing for my tastes. I'd give it 4 ½ stars, if we were allowed ½ s.
Rating:
Summary: good book, but not her best.
Review: I've enjoyed Dr. Reichs previous works more. Deja Dead is my favorite. I still can't believe that one hasn't turned into a movie. the book ends too quickly, you really don't have time to try and figure out who the bad guy is. and it's simply not as much of a "thriller" as i'd hoped. but still, it's an interesting book and well worth the $15.00.
Rating:
Summary: grisly politics, fine forensic anthropology
Review: In her fifth outing, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, who ordinarily divides her professional time between Montreal and North Carolina, is in Guatemala excavating a 1982 massacre site. As the book opens, two of her co-workers have been ambushed; one is dead, the other is in a coma. Authorities are calling it a robbery but Tempe knows their work is dangerous - many of those responsible for "disappeareds" are still in power. Then Tempe's work is interrupted by a request to recover a girl's decomposed body found in a seedy motel septic tank. Four teenage girls - one of them the Canadian ambassador's daughter - are missing and Detective Bartolomé Galiano fears a serial killer. The plot lines cross and re-cross. Tempe's new investigation is disrupted by a sinister official who confiscates the body. Parental secrets and the vagaries of teenage behavior complicate matters and the demands of the massacre site are heavy. Meanwhile Tempe's conflicted relationship with Montreal detective Andrew Ryan takes another hit from her growing attraction to Galiano. Intricate, finely detailed scenes of forensic examination (particularly the septic tank recovery and study of skeleton detail) fuel the story, counterbalancing Tempe's sometimes mystifying penchant for thin-skinned irritability. The plot is almost confusingly complex, but Reichs (herself a forensic anthropologist) wraps it up nicely leaving a little teaser for her next book.
Rating:
Summary: Tempe is Growing Up
Review: In this latest installment of the Tempe Brennan series, Kathy Reichs begins a new transition for Tempe that will probably continue into the next installment. In this one, Tempe goes to Guatemala to donate her services as a forensic scientist when the country tries to recover from the acts of a brutal regime. There are enough gruesome scenes to get the idea of the work that Tempe does, but no overkill (pun alert!). Kathy Reichs does not want to be the Tom Clancy of forensics medicine, so there is no textbook-level detail on foresic science droning on and on, thank goodness. There was a large cast of characters that was hard to keep track of sometimes, but by the end of the book when the mystery is solved, you'll know the characters you need to know. Are the others just red herrings? Yes and no. There is a bit of a "Scooby Doo" ending where there is an explanation of all the details of the crime, but it is authentic. There's no reason to suspect that a forensic scientist would have every single detail of the solution to a murder without some explanation from the police or criminals. The real strength of this book is observing Tempe's dogged determination to move on in her life and find happiness, and Reichs' continuing development as a writer. The series is told in the first person and Tempe's usual sardonic humor is very much in evidence here, as is her fascination with Andrew Ryan, her co-worker and almost-love-interest. If you're new to this series, you could start with this book and not feel like you got invited to a party where you're the odd one out or start at the beginning with Deja Dead.
Rating: 
Summary: Muddy waters
Review: In this, the 5th in the series of Tempe Brennan books, the initial departure from the Canada/North Carolina loop has Tempe unearthing victims of a 20 year old mass murder in Guatemala. In the meantime, 4 local girls are missing, one the daughter of the Canadian Ambassador. And, to further muddy the waters, a skeleton is found in a septic tank. Lucky for the Guatemalan people, one of the foremost experts in the world on septic tank evacuations happens to be in their back yard working on the mass murder case.
The plots twist, turn, and intertwine. Tempe herself is in some danger, but from whom? And if her life isn't busy enough, a new man enters giving rise to the possibility of an improvement in her social life.
Kathy Reichs is brilliant when it comes to story telling. No doubt her career gives her story lines galore. Each of the Brennan books includes what I consider to be a fascinating lesson in forensics and this was no exception.
The 3 star rating in this case may be party as a result from comparisons to the other books in this series. The trips from Canada to N Carolina were starting to seem like a stretch in the other books. The Canada/Guatemala connection seemed even more of a stretch, as did the "frat-boy" relationship between Tempe's ongoing future flame Ryan and new friend Galiano. Keeping Ryan at arm's length is starting to get old---either go somewhere with this relationship or dump him and move on. I got my hopes up in this book, but that's all I'll say on that one.
The twisting/turning plot lines were each interesting in their own right. I would have preferred a couple of them to have been left out, it started to get a little convoluted. The story of the attack on the village of Chupan Ya that resulted in the cruel murders of innocent women and children could have been explored in more depth. If Reichs wanted to make a political point regarding this issue, then it should have been dealt with more thoroughly. In the end, all plot lines, while worthwhile, were not given the attention they deserved.
The characters were all well written and believable. Some did not get as much attention as they probably deserved.
The end of the story was pulled together a little too quickly for my taste, after sending us off into all these different directions, it seemed trite for it all to tie up into such a nice neat little package in about 2 chapters.
Overall, a good read. Technically, she did her homework. But it could have been even better if she were willing to drop some of the hallmarks of the series such as the flying from place to place and the tired relationship with Ryan. I would not skip this book, but if you're new to the series read the others before giving up.
Rating:
Summary: Yawn
Review: It probably would have been a good story had they picked someone better to read it.
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful, thrilling book!
Review: Kathy Reichs is fast becoming one of my very favorite authors and this book is no exception. Usually her main character, Tempe Brennan, a forensic anthropologist, stays in the USA or in Canada within each book, but this time she is in Guatemala in a village called Chupan Ya, where a terrible incident happened in 1982. Soldiers invaded the village, raping the women, then killing them and the children there. Although this was a well-known incident, no records were kept and Tempe joins up with the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation to uncover the graves and recover the bones of the dead. Things get off to a bang when the team is packing up for the day and get a satellite phone call from two of their colleagues, who are driving towards the city. While talking, Tempe hears other voices, screams, shots, then nothing. The man is dead, but the woman is rushed to the hospital and goes into a coma. Dealing with this is bad enough, then Tempe is asked by the Guatemalan police to help with a case they've been working on - four well-to-do young women have mysteriously vanished from Guatemala City in recent months and none of their bodies have been found, nor have any of them turned up alive. One of the woman is the daughter of the Canadian ambassador, which is why Tempe thinks she's been asked to help. But it's the discovery of a body in a septic tank that is the real reason - Tempe had worked on a case before involving a body found in a septic tank. She reluctantly agrees to assist and finds some cat hairs and fetal bones in the tank among a young woman's remains. For whatever reason, she tucks some of the cat hair and fetal bones in her pocket and it's a good thing she did, because the remains are suddenly whisked away from further investigation Frustrated, but not about to give up, Tempe sends the hair off to a colleague who knows cat hairs, asks questions of the families of the missing young women and begins to realize there just might be a connection to the Chupan Ya massacre and these current disappearances. Plus, the ambush of her colleagues in the car may not have been meant for them, but for her instead. There are plenty of twists and turns in this book, and Katherine Borowitz, who has read almost all of Kathy Reich's other books, does an outstanding job of putting you right in the middle of this must-read (or must-hear) thriller.
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