Monday Mourning: A Tempe Brennan Novel (Temperance Brennan Novels)

Fabulous. Nail-biting at the end, excellent, spooky, creepy. I guessed the twist at the end, but still absolutely incredible.

Plot, substance, direction, humour, sexiness, suspense.... brilliant !!! ...and everything that's currently missing from Cornwell's latest offerings. You can't go wrong with this book, it's interesting, easy to read and thoroughly enjoyable, as are all of Reich's books. Personally, I can't wait for the next one !!

Tempe Brennan, a world renown forensic anthropologist works for the State of North Carolina through the office of the Chief Medieval Examiner and in Montreal through the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciares et de Medecine Legale. She comes up to Montreal a day early to prepare her testimony for a murder case in which she is to testify in court the next day. Her plans get derailed when bones are discovered in the dirt basement of a pizza parlor. Besides the bones that were dug up by the owner and put in a crate, Tempe finds two other sets of bones in the unfinished basement.

Lab tests prove that the skeletons are all teen-age female Caucasians, but the detective on the case thinks they are a century old, the same age as the building. Tempe's intuition tells her that the deaths are more recent and that the girls were all murdered. Through cutting edge science, Tempe is proven right and the police question previous owners of the store until they think they find the killer. What they end up discovering shocks the unusual unflappable police and in an unexpected twist Tempe finds herself at the mercy of another killer.

Few writers can match Patricia Cornwell when it comes to writing a fantastic crime thriller but Kathy Reichs is one of the rare few. Her protagonist is tough in her professional life but vulnerable when it comes to those she loves. Tempe humanizes police work because she cares and is determined to follow the course she thinks is right even when the police on the case disagree with her. MONDAY MOURNING is a memorable, compelling and eye opening reading experience.

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.

I've read all her books and Kathy Reichs is the kind of writer that makes me look for her in the book stores when with others I am more apt to remember the title of the book but not the author.

I love Tempe, both her flaws and her good qualities. I love the way things happen to her and her life is not perfect. Reichs books are not formula books with heaving bussoms, testy heroines and impossible conflict. Tempe is a woman who uses her brain to navigate life but is also very much in tune with her heart. Bravo!