and she has to convince her police colleagues that they are recent enough that the case should be investigated. The book has all the technical know-how, crisply explained, that we expect from Kathy Reichs; readers find themselves peering over Tempe's shoulder as she works out, not only the solution to a puzzle, but how to begin to solve it. Reichs is a practising forensic archaeologist in real life--but she never forgets that her readers cannot be expected to know everything she does. For a genuine expert though, she is remarkably unpatronising to our ignorance--one of the reasons why Tempe has so many colleagues who know comparatively little is so that her explanations can instruct us while we watch prickly Tempe tread on colleagues' toes. Like all of Reichs' books, Monday Mourning has a pronounced sense of place--Montreal in the snow has rarely seemed so real. If there is a downside to this clever police procedural, it is that we get rather too much of Tempe's fairly conventional emotional life--apparent problems with her lover Ryan end up in quite the corniest of explanations for apparent individuality, while her concern for an apparently suicidal friend adds artificial suspense to a plot that was doing the whole thing quite well in the first place. --Roz Kaveney
crop of thriller pathologists--quiet in her desire to avenge the helpless and coldly clinical in her intelligence. Her third outing, Deadly Decisions, pits her reconstructive skills against a bunch of Hell's Angels with a taste for ultra-violence. She pieces together the jigsaw fragments of identical twins and she finds herself engaged in identifying the teenage girl whose skull and long bones turned up near the grave of some earlier victims of inter-gang strife. In addition to the usual fascinating material about the identification of human bones, Reichs tells us all about the way that biker gangs have become a serious part of the criminal underworld, a subculture with a taste for mayhem and with rules it is death to break. This tactful abridgement for audio includes all the details one could wish of Tempe's gruesome trade, but not at the expense of her bad hair days, her irritating nephew and the rest of her messy private life. Katherine Borowitz's quiet characterisation brings us close to the cool intense delicacy of Reichs's character, without ever quite becoming so quiet as to be monotonous. --Running time approx 5 hours --Roz Kaveney
and she has to convince her police colleagues that they are recent enough that the case should be investigated. The book has all the technical know-how, crisply explained, that we expect from Kathy Reichs; readers find themselves peering over Tempe's shoulder as she works out, not only the solution to a puzzle, but how to begin to solve it. Reichs is a practising forensic archaeologist in real life--but she never forgets that her readers cannot be expected to know everything she does. For a genuine expert though, she is remarkably unpatronising to our ignorance--one of the reasons why Tempe has so many colleagues who know comparatively little is so that her explanations can instruct us while we watch prickly Tempe tread on colleagues' toes. Like all of Reichs' books, Monday Mourning has a pronounced sense of place--Montreal in the snow has rarely seemed so real. If there is a downside to this clever police procedural, it is that we get rather too much of Tempe's fairly conventional emotional life--apparent problems with her lover Ryan end up in quite the corniest of explanations for apparent individuality, while her concern for an apparently suicidal friend adds artificial suspense to a plot that was doing the whole thing quite well in the first place. --Roz Kaveney
physical jeopardy. In Fatal Voyage, her fourth outing, someone is trying to kill her and also to destroy her professional reputation with trumped-up charges of unethical behaviour. Tempe is called in when a plane full of college athletes goes down in the remoter parts of the forests of North Carolina. She finds herself investigating a spare foot she rescued from coyotes, a foot which is significantly more decomposed than the crash victims and which has symptoms of gout, a disease most of the dead young people had no time to contract. There is a locked house and walled courtyard out in the woods that do not appear on any maps and it seems almost as if her simple knowledge of their being there has offended the powerful of the world. As always, Kathy Reichs manages to combine a detailed knowledge of who the dead were and how they died with a profound sense of the sadness of things. This is a book that never lets us forget amid the dissections and tests for genetic markers that each human death is that of a tragic and irreplaceable human being. Tempe is one of the more attractive of the current crop of women detectives simply because she is flawed and vulnerable as well as smart, righteous and brave. Reichs never lets you forget that crime novels should acquaint us with good people as well as human evil. --Roz Kaveney
Advantages: Gripping storyline Disadvantages: May be a little too samey for Cornwell readers
...This has got to be one of KathyReichs' better writes. It has a gripping storyline, involving a plane crash, red herrings, action, adventure and even a little romance. You'll even learn a bit about forensic anthropology, as KathyReichs puts factual information about her profession into the book without making it feel like a science lesson! If you've never read a Reichs book before, this is a darn good one to start with! However, readers of Patricia Cornwell may find the basic subject matter a little too samey. Personally, I read Cornwell books after I started reading Reichs books, and I thought KathyReichs has developed much more interesting and believeable characters than Patricia Cornwell.
Fans of Patricia Cornwell should read any of KathyReichs books and see what crime writers should aspire to be!...
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Advantages: Fantastic! Yet again Kathy Reichs has been able to mix the wants and needs of every reader into one inpecible story that will keep you gripped for hours on end! Definitely recommended! Disadvantages: None at all!
...Bare Bones is one of a collection of books by the great author KathyReichs. Here, Reichs is again impecible in her story, hiding truths, twists and surprises all along the way. There is never a dull moment with this book, and once you begin, there's no putting it down. This tory is based upon mystery, crime passion- everything the Doctor ordered. The forensic scientist Temp Brennan, whom the story is based around will again be caught up in a turmoil as she fights to unravel the truth that lays behind all of these strange events and coincidences. Temp kows that she is getting to the truth when she is endangered herself. But will she be able to unravel the truth in time?...
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Advantages: gripping storyline Disadvantages: found medical terms hard to understand
...KathyReichs as done it again ! A hugely absorbing story, Clever storyline cant wait to read what happened next just one of those books you cant put down , I have read most of Kathy`s books & look forward always to her next release
Her caracters are very strong & you really feel you know them personally, I was sorry to finish the book ,Fascinating story filled with danger & Kathy`s great sense of humour which shines through the whole of the book, Her love life is a total mess but she brings great warmth into this book when describing her feelings for Ryan the love of her life, The worries over her daughter who as left home now to go to university,
will be telling my friends & family about this book
a great read...
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13.10.2003
17.03.2006
