Home :: Books :: Mystery & Thrillers  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers

Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
Death du Jour

Death du Jour

List Price: $25.00
Your Price: $17.00
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 .. 14 >>

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Highly Readable
Review: I am a forensic mystery junkie. Love Scarpetta and Lincoln Rhymes, never miss CSI, and am fast becoming a fan of forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan. Death du Jour is the second book in this series. The characterization of Tempe is fleshed out a bit more in this book, as we learn more of her personal life. We meet her sister Harry, her daughter Katy is a bit more visible and Tempe looks to have a love interest. But the main draw is the forensics, and we get a lot of it in this book. Flies, pupua, beetles, bones, entrance and exit wounds, etc., etc., it is laid on in almost every chapter. Although the cult storyline is a little far fetched, I read this book in one sitting, longing to have all the connections tied up. Looking forward to the next case, Deadly Decisions.

Rating: 5 stars
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: 4 stars
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: 5 stars
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: 3 stars
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: 4 stars
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: 3 stars
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: 4 stars
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: 4 stars
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: 5 stars
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.


<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 .. 14 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates