The book Déjà Dead, by Kathy Reichs, is the first book in the celebrated Temperance Brennan series. It starts out in Montreal as Dr. Brennan works on a murder case of a young woman who was dismembered and buried in trash bags. The story quickly starts spiraling deeper though as Dr. Brennan becomes convinced it may be the work of a serial killer due to noted similarities between this case and several others she has worked on in the last year. However, some of the local authorities are resistant to this idea and she has to work hard to convince them of this. By the time she is able to prove this, the case has become personal with threats against both herself and people close to her. Determined to solve it, Dr. Brennan scrambles to find the necessary evidence to catch the killer and put them away for good.
I have been a fan of the TV show Bones for several years now as my mom got me into it when I was younger. It wasn’t until recently that I decided to try the books. Interestingly enough, I have read books by Kathy Reichs before but it was her young adult series, Virals, and not her Temperance Brennan series. I knew that the books were drastically different from the TV show. My mom had warned me about that as she had read some of the books before. That being said I wasn’t really sure what to expect going in. I did expect to enjoy the book but I was still surprised by exactly how much I enjoyed the book. The mystery presented was very intriguing I will admit but what really drew me in was the character of Dr. Brennan. Reichs’ depiction of her makes her a very three-dimensional character that really feels fleshed out. Her personality is very stubborn and she is willing to do what it takes to do the right thing even if no one else believes her theories. Dr. Brennan goes out of her way to find evidence to support her theory of a serial killer despite the repeated pushback by various elements of local law enforcement. The only one willing to even entertain her theory is Andy but even he insists that they need more proof before they can act on her theory. The lengths Dr. Brennan goes to are in some ways incredible but they reveal her over-arching determination to do the right thing and to make sure that the killer is caught. It also reveals her determination that the families of the victims gain closure if at all possible. By pursuing this she also learns that sometimes reopening old cases actually causes further pain for the families and Brennan has to struggle with walking that fine line of gaining justice and solving the case without making it harder for the families. At the same time her continued digging reveals potential threats against her and her daughter, who is not in town but is on her way and does not have an easy way to stay in contact if something happens. Keep in mind this was before cellphones. While all of this is going on Dr. Brennan also has to deal with the antics of her best friend, Abby, who claims she is being stalked and has frequently been in trouble before that she had to be bailed out of. When she disappears it is revealed the cases may be linked, even if only slightly, and events quickly spiral out of control. Dr. Brennan does her best to keep her calm and consider all angles of the case, even reluctantly admitting that Abby has a habit of disappearing without notice, while struggling with the guilt of not solving the case sooner before there were more victims. Reading this story I was impressed by the level of detail present in the case that it revolves around. At the same time I was impressed by the overall plot development and how everything gradually gets darker and more mysterious, but also more serious in terms of potential repercussions. Dr. Brennan had to deal with potential professional repercussions by her insisting it was a serial killer but also personal repercussions due to the threats against herself, her daughter, and her best friend Abby. I was absolutely enthralled by the story and am definitely planning to read more of the series and seeing how the character of Dr. Brennan continues to develop but also to see how she is so wildly different than her counterpart on the TV show. As such I am giving it four out of five stars.
The big question now is would I recommend this book to others. The answer is yes, I would recommend it. That being said I would also state that it is not for everyone. The book is incredible and very well written but at the same time it is clearly a murder mystery with a heavy focus on the forensics side of things. That is not a genre that everyone enjoys but for those who do enjoy it, even if only a little bit, this would be a book that they would probably greatly enjoy. There is a little violence and a little gore and the book does deal with mature content, it is a murder mystery after all, so it may not be appropriate for younger readers because of that. This in no way detracts from the appeal of the book but it is something to keep in mind when recommending it. At the end of the day this isn’t a huge issue as the book was aimed at adults anyway. It was good though and I definitely enjoyed it. Even if I end up never reading it again it was worth reading it the first time. I highly doubt that I will never read it again though as I am well known for reading books multiple times. If anyone else has read this book or tried it after reading this let me know in the comments what you thought about it. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.