Monday Mourning : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Wondefully complex story!
Review: Another 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. Tempe Brennan is a character one actually cares about, so read on, and discover, not only how she and the detectives of the Province solve this case, but also how her relationship with the gorgeous Ryan is developing.

Rating:
Summary: Stunningly Reichs
Review: I have been a fan of Kathy Reichs since I read her first book, Deja Dead in 1997. Her stories have gotten better in the intervening years....more depth to her characters, including Tempe, more depth to her stories, great plot lines, and a steady pace that keeps the reader hanging on. I agree with other reviewers that Monday Mourning is her strongest work yet....but all of her books are worth reading.

Tempe is in Montreal to testify in a murder case (what else). While she is there, she is called to investigate three skeletons discovered in the basement of a small pizza parlor. Upon first impressions there is some thought that the bodies are "historical", and this is supported when 19th century evidence is discovered near the remains. However, Tempe isn't convinced. She carbon dates the remains and discovers that they day to the 1980's confirming her fears.

As background we discover that Tempe's love life isn't going well. Her significant other isn't giving her the attention she needs. Further, her male co-workers continue to take her and her contributions to police work lightly.

Suffice it to say that the reader is in store for another wonderful ride through fictional police work. A tight story with great characters, Monday Mourning is sure to make you a Reichs fan if you're not already there.

Rating:
Summary: Intriguing
Review: I love a mystery, especially when they feature characters capable of intelligent sleuthing, not coincidents, luck, or witnesses to solve the crime for the good guys. Reichs reminds me of Sue Grafton, with a little of Hannibal Lector thrown in. She writes in vivid detail and offers a precise insight into the forensic crime solving method.

Rating:
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!

Rating:
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.

Rating:
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!

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.