Rating: 
Summary: Another Hit
Review: Kathy Reichs is turning out to be the master of forensic thrillers. Her newest, Grave Secrets, is a compelling and heart-felt mystery alternating between Montreal and Guatamala. The plot speeds along at a breakneck pace. The book is loaded with interesting forensic details which, rather than bog down the plot, only serve to enhance it. Included is a chapter on septic tanks, that, despite how it sounds, is actually quite riveting. The character of Dr. Brennan is one of the best fleshed out characters in modern mysteries. In Grave Secrets, we see many more character elements added to her, that she never becomes stale, unlike that doctor up in Virginia.
Patricia Cornwall should be afraid, very afraid.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Winner
Review: Kathy Reichs' Dr. Temperance Brennan (Tempe) is one of the more complicated main mystery characters being written today. She is a combination of strength (in this book she must spend a day digging around in a septic tank) and emotional caring that makes for an interesting person that is not cookie-cutter like so many of today's 'sleuths.'The mystery begins with Tempe working in a remote Guatemalan village uncovering long buried victims of a junta's attack. She is then dragged, somewhat unwillingly, into investigating the disappearance of four young women in Guatemala City, leading to complications in which the government is involved. The action moves from Guatemala to Canada and back again. There is romance involved, as well, as she begins to be attracted to the Guatemalan detective with whom she is working (he is also an old friend of Tempe's sometime boyfriend Andrew Ryan which provides further drama). I enjoyed this book as I have all of Reichs mysteries. One thing did stick out in my mind though as I was reading: several times Tempe is complaining (which she has toned down since her first book appearance) about being constantly surronded by death. I could not help but think, "Well, that is your chosen profession. Sure it must be disheartening at times but if it is creating that much travail, change jobs." I guess my feeling was a throwback to that first book in which Tempe came across as somewhat whiny. That aside, I will definitely be reading the next books in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: Tempe Brennan investigates horrors in Guatemala.
Review: Kathy Reichs's latest novel, "Grave Secrets," has Tempe Brennan visiting Guatemala to help the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation. Tempe is a highly skilled forensic anthropologist (like the author herself) who is helping to uncover the remains from a massacre that occurred twenty years ago in a village called Chupan Ya. At that time, Guatemalan soldiers raped and murdered the defenseless women and children who lived there. No records of the massacre were kept and the perpetrators were never brought to justice. Tempe and the rest of the team want to prove that the massacre occurred and they are also attempting to identify any remains that they find. This is by far the strongest and most poignant part of "Grave Secrets." Tempe's work in Guatemala is heartbreaking, and in light of the massacres that have occurred in so many places, all too realistic. Suddenly, two members of Tempe's team are ambushed and shot, for unknown reasons. In addition, Tempe is asked to help investigators on another case in Guatemala. It seems that four privileged young women have mysteriously vanished. One set of remains is found in a septic tank, and Tempe's expertise is called upon to dig out the remains and identify them. She runs into hostility and anger from a Guatemalan District Attorney, who is angry at her "interference." Reichs writes with tremendous authority about every aspect of forensic anthropology and the first half of the book is fascinating and gripping. The second half of the book is weaker for several reasons. Reichs cooks up a budding romance between Tempe and a Guatemalan Special Investigator named Galiano. Galiano happens to know Andrew Ryan, Tempe's love interest in Montreal, where she works part time. Which man will win Tempe's heart? This aspect of the book is cutesy and unsatisfying. Tempe acts more like a schoolgirl than a grown woman when she is around these two men. Worse, however, is the ending of the book. After a series of red herrings, the truth is revealed about the missing girls and the present day violence in Guatemala. The solution to the mystery is completely out of left field and extremely far-fetched. This is a shame, since Tempe is a great character, compassionate as well as strong and self-confident (except when she is around attractive men). I cannot wholeheartedly recommend "Grave Secrets," since the beginning of the novel is so much stronger than its conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: Fresh and invigorating
Review: Like a cold shower, this novel is. (I don't know where i got this analogy from...it was just a thought that struck me while i was reading it. And it still strikes me as a truism.) The writing is sharp, and her depiction of the dead is something to behold. She never for a second lets you froget that the people whose bodies she is investigatin were once real people, just like us, who lives and breathed and laughed. And she chooses to brutally remind us of that fact at the most well chosen and impacting times. The developments in Ryan and Tempe's relationship are satisfying in adequate (reviews who complain....you cannot expect big developments in EVERY book.) and the inclusion of another love interest gives an interesting slant to the book. The plot is great...interesting, and filled with forensic insights. (Although sometimes they tend to feel a bit forced...unlike Cornwell, whose nuggets of know-how slide from the prose easily) The characters are drawn adequately (although not quite so well as in previous books) the plot strands converge brilliantly at the end, pulled taut as only an expert can do. The ending is exciting and tense, and what leads up to it is a very very good read. This book is not quite as good as such winners as the sublime Fatal Voyage or incredibly impressive Death du Jour, it is still a high class novel.
Rating:
Summary: Where Are You, Dr. Reichs?
Review: Perhaps responding to earlier comments that her works were a tad too academic, brilliant forensic anthropologist/writer Kathy Reichs went the other way in this latest addition to her collection of novels. And the result is a mixed bag. In a complete change of tone from her earlier books, Reichs spikes this fast-moving tale with one-liners, groaners, bon mots, and some hard-bitten detective talk straight out of "The Maltese Falcon." It certainly moves the plot along, but I miss the ultra-serious, and yes, sometimes boring Tempe Brennan, the forensic-anthropologist heroine of Reichs' mysteries. In this outing, Brennan is in Guatemala to help a human-rights team unearth and account for the horribly massacred bodies in a mass grave--legacy of the last junta. That in itself is fascinating, but the plot suddenly widens to include a possible serial killer who is murdering the twenty-something daughters of the Guatemalan affluent. The Canadian ambassador to Guatemala is somehow mixed into the plot via his wayward teenaged daughter, and there are enough characters, plots, and subplots in the two parallel stories (mass graves and serial killer) to seriously confuse the reader if one is not paying close attention. Tempe's love interest, Canadian cop Andrew Ryan, has some competition in the form of sexy Special Crimes investigator Bartolome Galiano, who just happens to be a former college roommate of Ryan's. But Tempe has no time for sex, what with her nauseatingly described foray into a teeming cesspool to find human body parts, and her dangerous and probably illegal trip into Guatemala's underbelly to unearth the killer or killers. The ends all tied together nicely, but there was quite a bit of information to digest, and this reader, for one, was left in a slight muddle. No matter. The book is still worth four stars for the sheer energy and intelligence of the writing. I'm hoping the next book in the series brings back the didactic and frustrating Tempe Brennan her fans have come to know and love.
Rating:
Summary: Best yet!
Review: Reichs just keeps getting better and better. I was not sure if I qould like it, because frankly, I am not very interested, sad though it is, in the desparisodos. But really got hooked. Like the new lovw interest. I hope she won't pull a Cornwell on us like that abomination "Isle of Dogs" or Grisham with "A Painted House". When we like a genre, a recuring series we don't want a change. Keep 'em comintg, Kathy!!
Rating: 
Summary: Grave Secrets
Review: Started out very well, very interesting mystery. However, all of the questions were answered in the last few pages and the reader has no way to guess all the complicated relationships. It is like the author had to unravel all the mystery in two pages! There is also a romantic angle to this and the author withholds who ends up with the heroine.
I was very disappointed in the ending in all aspects.
Rating:
Summary: Not the best in the series.
Review: Tempe Brennan is summoned to Guatemala to dig a well where twenty-three women and children, all victims of rape and murder, lie buried. During this dig two of Tempe's colleagues will be viciously attacked leaving one dead, and the other warning of future violence if the digging is not stopped. As this case goes from bad to worse, Tempe is asked by the Guatemalan police for help in another case. In this separate case four well-to-do young women have disappeared from Guatemala City. One of the young women happens to be the daughter of the Canadian Ambassador. Teamed with Special Crimies Investigator Bartolome Galiano, and Montreal detective Andrew Ryan, Tempe will start her investigation into the disappearances only to find herself in a twisted web of lies and deceit that reach far beyond Guatemala City, and in the shadows powerful figures will track every move, stopping at nothing to silence Tempe and her crew. As the stakes rise in both cases, Tempe must make life altering choices. 'Grave Secrets' is a fast-paced thriller, but a somewhat confusing one. The two cases are interesting, but the introduction of too many characters and complex twists in both plot lines makes the book confusing. When the climax is finally reached the reader is not as surprised as they are let down by the outcome. Kathy Reichs burst onto the forensic thriller scene with her blockbuster debut novel 'Deja Dead', she followed it up with three equally excellent novels; 'Death Du Jour', 'Deadly Decisions', and 'Fatal Voyage'. Unfortunately, Ms. Reichs fifth novel 'Grave Secrets' is too intricately plotted and the result is a book that lacks the fun and entertainment of the previous novels in the Tempe Brennan series. Nick Gonnella
Rating:
Summary: Kathy will have you Gagging for More
Review: Tempe is in Guatemala to help identify some of the bodies of the disappeared, a result of the civil war. The bodies were found in a mass grave. On the way to the site two other forensic scientists are attacked and one dies. Is Tempe on the list? Not long after her arrival the local police seek her help in the disappearance of four girls, one the daughter of the Canadian Ambassador. Ah, the Canadian connection, a vehicle to get old flame, Montreal cop Ryan into the story, only it doesn't seem contrived, it works actually. And as always, Reichs is in top form description wise, she does a scene about a body in a septic tank that'll have you running for the receptacle of your own septic tank. As usual her descriptions in this five star thriller are right on. She takes you right out of your life and firmly places you in Guatemala. Scary the way she does that. She's good. Reviewed by Vesta Irene
Rating:
Summary: Guaranteed to Give you Nightmares
Review: Tempe is in Guatemala, helping to unearth the bodies of 28 villagers disappeared (killed by the govt.) during the civil war there. Two of her colleagues are attacked, one dies. Tempe has to be careful, as there could still be people in the government that were involved in the massacre. Then she gets involved with the disappearance of four girls, one of them the daughter of the Canadian ambassador and all of a sudden the authorities that were so eager for her help with the decomposing bodies of the villagers want her out of Dodge. To add to the plot there is a Latin love interest who just happened to go to school with old flame Ryan who comes to Guatemala because one of the four missing girls is the daughter of the Canadian Ambassador. This book seemed somehow different than Reichs' previous four. That's not bad, an author should change and grow. Tempe seems to have a little more punch. Also this book starts off on a dark note that lasts throughout, but with Reich's detailed description of the death pit, how could it not be dark. A word of caution, don't read this five star thriller before dinner, especially the secptic tank part, because it'll definitely throw you off your feed. Don't read it before bed either, because if you do, nightmares are guaranteed. Read it on a rainy day, then watch an episode of the Honeymooners to get it out of your system. Review submitted by Katie Osborne
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