Rating: 
Summary: To much going on.....
Review: After a year of false starts, I finally read "Death du Jour." I found myself a bit disappointed. Kathy Reichs has been compared to Patricia Cornwell, but Kathy Reichs is no Patricia Cornwall. For one thing, Ms Cornwall writes exceedingly well. She was a journalist covering the police beat in Richmond before she began writing crime novels. Her books in some sense are extensions of these stories. Cornwall's writing is exceedingly original and based on real events according to our local papers. Although I liked Ms. Reich's first book "Deja Death" -- mainly because it took place in Montreal and had an exotic setting -- certain aspects of it bothered me. I found myself very irritated with Ms. Reich's second book. Ms Reichs books seem to consist of warmed over material from other books. While Reichs books may be based on real events, and I am sure she is a good nonfiction writer, she does not write fiction very well. For one thing, "Death du Jour" is far too busy. There are too many characters and not enough character development, too many plot twists and subplots and not enough development of the central plot. For me, one of the great attactions of Poirot, Morse, or Kay Scarpetta is the mental game. 'Du jour' is loaded with action but don't expect much of a mental game. Sure, I know police work is different from detection, but Cornwall does both--that's what makes her stories so strong. Also, I like a lead character I can identify with on some level. One appealing characteristic of Kay Scarpetta is her ability to reflect. All through her novels Ms. Cornwall has Scarpetta pull back and reflect. Often she does it over a meal she has prepared for her sidekick detective. Ms. Reichs character Tempe Brennan attempts to do this but even when she sits in front of her fire place she's nervous and twitchy and something is always happening, from break-ins to fires. Tempe Brennan is very nearly perfect, and she is far to active and she needs to cut back on the diet coke. Oh somewhere, someone might try to do everything Tempe does, but I seriously doubt they could do any of it very well. My willing suspension of disbelief gets pretty stretched with Tempe. How many times is she going to be beaten, mugged, burgled, and held prisoner. This is only book two and she's been pretty battered already. And, she's a fool at times. She deals with the worst sort of killer, and refuses to carry a weapon--give me a break. In "Death du Jour", over a three week period, Tempe Brennan becomes involved in some facet or other of investigations into at least ten suspicious deaths. These bodies scattered from Canada to Beaufort SC. And Brennan is teaching a graduate course at UNC, writing papers for a professional conferences, investigating the bones of a supposed RC saint, and taking time out for a weekend getogether with her college age daughter. I was exhausted by the middle of the book. (And she jogs regularly!)
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: A Character and a Series Coming Into Their Own
Review: Anyone who has read Kathy Reichs can see her hitting her stride as an author. Her main character, Tempe Brennan, splits her time between the Laboratoire de Medicine Legale de Montreal (and my french never sounded better!) and the University of North Carolina - Charlotte. Though a forensic anthropologist, the obvious comparisons to Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta are almost inevitable. But, to my mind of late, Tempe brings much more to the table. She is not as whiney as our Kay and the secondary charcaters are much more believable and founded in reality than the stereotypes who support Dr. Kay these days. This novel runs parallel plots with the excavation of a long dead nun who is up for beatification, an arson induced house fire, and the disappearance of a college assistant, that takes Tempe from Montreal to the Carolinas. This all leads her to the pursuit of a cult and, through the course of the novel, gives us some flicker of insight into what can get people to sign up for places like Jonestown. Like her discussions on pathology, Ms. Reichs doesn't use the vast amount of material she has acquired about cults to shock us, but, rather, uses it to move the pace along quite well. We also see more insight into Tempe herself than we did in the first book. We gain (better) insight into her relationship with her sister - both as a sibling and as a rival. And we also get a better focus on her relationship with her daughter. Once the story moves to the Carolina's, we see, dare I say, even a more sexy Tempe. This all makes her character much more believable and maybe much more vulnerable. More like you and me and so we tend (and want) to root for her. So, why not 5 stars? I found the exacavation of the nun fascinating and, quite frankly, was waiting for it to be tied in neatly with the cult. That never came to be. Still, this was a very good read and held my interest through out. The kind of story you read by a roaring fire with a brandy or maybe sitting under an umbrella on the beach. But, if you read it on an island off of South Carolina, you might find yourself looking over your shoulder. Kathy Reichs, she's that good.
Rating:
Summary: Forensic Mystery
Review: Cults and Canada... I should've loved this. But it was hard to get into (though reading with the cricket on TV or with music on probably wasn't a good idea). I also didn't quite understand the business of exhuming a dead nun in relation to the cults. Still, Dr Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist, is a character to follow. But I'm hoping that she stays in Canada, and doesn't duck out to the US again. I'm bored with American settings. (B+)
Rating:
Summary: Saints and Cults
Review: Death du jour is the second book in this series and begins in Montreal with Dr. Tempe Brennan, forensic anthropologist, searching for the remains of a Catholic nun who is being nominated for sainthood. The investigation is continued as a side thread throughout the book, a nice subplot to help Tempe pass the time. We are quickly introduced to the main plot: what is the connection between the deaths of several adults and babies in a rural Canadian farmhouse fire, and the bodies discovered on a secluded monkey research island in South Carolina? Tempe returns "home" to North Carolina, leaving her sister Harry in Montreal at a self-enlightenment seminar. Harry brings considerable angst to Tempe throughout the rest of the book. I enjoyed the virtual tour of Charlotte, North Carolina, having been there recently, but it didn't seem as detailed as Reich's descriptions of Montreal.
The main plot brings Montreal detective Andrew Ryan to Tempe's turf in the Carolina's, where things heat up between them with a moderately graphic make-out scene. I enjoyed meeting Tempe's ex-husband in this book, and spending more time with her college-aged daughter. I love learning new things when I read fiction, and this installment of the Tempe Brennan series teaches the reader about the lifecycles of the flies and beetles that flock to a dead body. We also learn about life in Montreal in the late 1800s during a smallpox outbreak. Of more relevance to the main plot, Kathy Reichs puts forth theories about the formation of cults and their techniques for attracting and retaining members. Following the pattern in the first book, the action is just approaching climax when Tempe is injured and the book wraps up with a stilted question and answer session. Overall, I would say I enjoyed the first book, Deja Dead, more than this book, but I'm not yet discouraged and look forward to picking up the next tome.
--Lynellen.com
Rating:
Summary: This Novel's Better than her First - Recommended Reading
Review: I bought the author's 1st book, Deja Dead, because I was glad to have found another female medical examiner protagonist similar to Cornwell's Dr. Scarpetta. Still, Deja Dead (Reichs' 1st novel) wasn't as good as when Cornwell is at her, now, occasional best. Death Du Jour, being another Dr. Brennan novel, was a very welcome sight. Then after reading Death Du Jour you see there is a definite improvement over Deja Dead. Reich's story telling skills have improved considerably; now the author really communicates with, and grabs, the reader - she keeps the book moving. I read so many books and not many lately have kept my attention as this one has. If you were iffy with Deja Dead give it another chance with this book. My only gripe is her wacky sister. Not only was there absolutely no need for her but she took something away from the story and the main character. They are way too different and not believable at all. But not for the sister's appearance I would have rated it 5 stars. I'll anxiously await and will buy Reichs next book (new character or not) when it comes out. I hope the author doesn't feel the need to constantly inject family members into her story as Cornwell has done; ruining many storylines by focusing on the neice (a consensus among all my reader friends). We all want to read about the character and her unique professional encounters not her relatives. Congratulations to Ms. Reich on an excellent and intelligent read.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not her best
Review: I love this whole series, but this was the most difficult to read. Though the story of the nun's remains was interesting, it too got bogged down in what appeared to be a grab for suspense - that is, leaving details just beyond the reader's reach.
It's certainly a very readable novel and as usual, the combination of facts about forensic recovery, and the on-again, off-again romantic life of Tempe, certainly hit the right balance. If you're a fan of the series, pick it up - but if you're new to these books, start with a different one, like Fatal Voyage (one of my personal favorites).
Rating: 
Summary: GENRE CLICHED MYSTERY THAT FALLS SHORT OF GREATNESS
Review: I read death du jour over a period of a week dring this summer, and after reading it, i can say that this is a fine book, but one that falls just short of being good. With a heroin which is essentially kay scarpetta for canadians, death du jour and deja dead resseamble a lot like patricia cornwell's novel.... ....think about it. A feisty female heroin, a rugged cop and partner, a young daughter(or neice) a cult, a burned house, detailed ferensic analysis....the list goes on. Needless to say, this book falls into the been there done that category. The book is essentially saved by good, but predictable writing. The characters are more likable(except for harry...who cares what happens to her) then cornwell's, but reichs cant seem to find a style all her own, and the suspense isn't really there. In spite of all of this, you'll have fun reading death du jour, but dont take it to seriously. It doesn't brake any genre rules or offer anything to the table, but what it does....it does well.
Rating:
Summary: This one made me a dedicated Tempe fan
Review: I think that this was the first Tempe Brennan that I read and may likely be the one I've enjoyed the most. Tempe's relationship with Andrew Ryan starts to form and they 'dance' around each other, knocking heads as each does his job. You get a real feeling of the cold of Montreal to your bones as Reich's sets the scenes and the atmosphere and you see Tempe as a real person, a pathologist who's also sleuth, and the confusing life that Tempe lives as she commutes between Montreal and North Carolina. I think that what I like best about Reich's is that she builds her characters carefully, each has a real personality and as you become immersed in the plot you truly feel that you're in there among them. Read this, and then grab hold of the others! You'll become addicted!
Rating:
Summary: Nifty little forensic thriller
Review: In her debut novel "Déjà Dead" Kathy Reichs introduced the character of Temperance (Tempe) Brennan, a forensic anthropologist who spends half her time practicing in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina and the other half in Montreal, Quebec. A series of murders and bizarre findings led Tempe to go undercover and explore Montreal's seedy underworld of drugs and prostitution. In "Death du Jour", Tempe seeks to uncover the mystery behind a devastating house fire in St-Jovite that killed 4, including 2 infant babies. It is soon discovered that the cause of the fire is arson and all signs point to a dangerous cult as being the culprit. As ususal the main strength of a Reichs novel is the believability of its protagonist Tempe Brennan. Tempe is a truly complex character of many emotions that are felt thoughout the novel's engaging first-person narrative. The synergy between herself and detective Ryan is irresistible and reminiscent of Mulder and Scully from the X-files except this time the female is the believer and the male the pessimist. This is a very technical and academic work of fiction with in-depth descriptions of forensic procedures, fossil descriptions and coroner reports. In technical terms the author certainly knows what she writes about since she practices forensic anthropology herself, lending the novel a high sense of genuineness. I found to be most fascinating the in-depth knowledge of cults that we learn throughout, both fictional and historical such as the Solar Temple cult. I was also impressed with Reich's ability to describe the bitter cold of a Montreal winter, having lived there myself I thought she was bang on with some of her descriptions. The climactic final pages take place during the throes of Quebec's devastating ice storm of 1998 and the descriptions are done extremely well, amid a breakneck pace. As much as I enjoyed "Death du Jour" in my opinion this novel is not quite as good as Déjà Dead. I was disappointed that the French Canadian flavour of the first novel was not as omnipresent and found that the book lost a bit of its steam once the action shifted away from Quebec and into North Carolina. My major beef is that there were way too many wild coincidences; Tempe's sister Harry, who lives in Texas has just registered for a new course that happens to have a field work assignment in...you guessed it Montreal! The house fire in Quebec has links to a cult in the U.S. Where in the U.S.? Why in the Carolinas, right by Tempe's hometown! There were many other improbable links that felt somewhat insulting to a seasoned mystery reader like myself but did not ruin my enjoyment of the novel too much. I found Death du Jour to be very entertaining. It fell short of the accomplishment of her debut novel but with "Déjà Dead" Reichs had set herself a very high pedestal to keep up with. Death du Jour was certainly good enough to make me want to keep reading more Tempe adventures.
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