Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
Title: Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
Pages: 532
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Murder Mystery
Summary (off goodreads): Forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan has finally planned a weekend off to explore Montreal. But when an unidentified female corpse is discovered meticulously dismembered and stashed in garbage bags, her weekend plans--and her life--are turned upside down.
Review: I requested this book off Bookswap because I wanted to read it but not enough to pay for it. This is the book series that the TV show Bones was based off of. Since I love Bones I figured, if I could get my hands on this book, it wouldn't hurt to try it.
I ended up really enjoying it. I'm not usually a murder mystery reader. It's just not usually my thing (though, if recommended a good one, I'll read it.) However, this book was engaging. Reichs managed to combine science, complicated science, with mystery. I never felt lost when reading her books. She explained everything that was happening and she did it without talking down to her readers. I didn't feel like an idiot when I was told the more complicated parts. I felt like I was learning.
Though the book really is nothing like the series, I enjoyed Brennan's character anyway. She was a nice mixture of scientific and social. She had problems in her life (going through a divorce, a daughter in college and daily she fights alcoholism) but none of these things stop her from doing her work, from going out or from flirting with the cute cop.
Reichs also is good with surprises. Usually I can predict what's going to happen in murder mysteries. Reichs, not really, until it was a page or two from actually happening. She also doesn't follow the trope that a lot of mysteries tend to. Her killer WASN'T someone the reader knew. The characters that I was following, the crime fighters of Canada, were all good people. They weren't involved with the murder. Often times, it will turn into a large conspiracy and half of your main characters turn out to be the bad guy. I LIKED that Reichs didn't turn them into the villains. I liked that they stayed heros.
As much as I enjoyed the book, it is not a book for the weak of stomach. It's a very graphic book (there was one part in-particular that really grossed me out and made me want to cross my legs forever.) Usually violence doesn't bother me, and didn't BOTHER me here, it was just visual. Brennan is a forensic anthropologist and everything that includes. Mainly, decomposing bodies. Usually, when I read, I have one book I read at home and one book that I read on my lunch break at work. This book started as my "lunch" book. It became my "at home" book about three chapters in. I believe it was the part where she was stepping over maggots and I was eating spaghetti.
The book still falls into some predictability that comes with Murder novels. When they caught the "bad guy," it was fairly obvious that he wasn't the ACTUAL bad guy and said real bad guy was going to come after Brennan. Despite knowing that, I still got a sense of frantic urgency at the end of the book when the murderer was coming after her.
Reichs also steered clear of the romance. It was VERY slightly implied between Ryan (one of the cops) and Brennan. They showed concern for each other and a mild interest but they never spoke about it. They didn't kiss. There wasn't even a comforting hug. By the end of the book they were just two people who worked with each other and had now become friends. Reichs is setting them up to be a love interest in her later books, but in this one, it wasn't present.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery. It was well written and slightly different from the (few) other ones that I've read. If you are easily squicked out by things, however, I wouldn't recommend it. There are some very visual parts to this book.
Books so far this year: 12/75
Currently reading: Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys by Melissa De La Cruz
You can read this review and all others at im_writing or my Goodreads account.