Death Du Jour is the second Temperance Brennan novel by Kathy Reichs. It opens with Tempe traveling to Montreal for spring break to work on an excavation of a catholic nun being nominated for sainthood. However, she gets slightly busy when she is also called in to work on an arson case with several dead bodies. As she works on finding and identifying the nun’s remains she also works on identifying the arson victims and determining what actually happened. In the course of events she also ends up being asked to look into a missing person’s case by one of the nuns she is consulting with. Things get complicated when she comes back from spring break and starts finding bodies while traveling with her daughter. As Tempe works on unraveling these mysterious events and their numerous possible connections she finds herself working the cases from both locations and hoping desperately to find answers by doing so. Something that seems more and more difficult to do as time goes on.
I find it rather fascinating how incredibly multi-layered this story was and how the numerous different elements came together to create the rather complicated mystery that was the focus of the story. In all honesty, it was rather interesting to try and piece it all together so I greatly enjoyed that aspect of the book. I actually thought that this book was slightly more complicated than the previous book in that it felt like the mystery had more layers to it, at the very least it had more moving parts that were present throughout. The way it developed was also interesting as just when you think things are starting to get figured out more layers are revealed as new information comes forth. It was a good pacing with the gradual reveal of things. There were some elements that I liked about this story though as I felt like Tempe was slightly more logical and less emotional in some ways than the previous book. She was able to take a step back more easily, at least towards the beginning anyway. It was an interesting character development that helped show just how well she is able to handle certain aspects of her job. Mind you the book also showed just how the job impacts her life as well so it showed a pretty realistic depiction of what that kind of life is probably like. On top of all of that I also found myself rather liking the continued depth that is added to the main character, Temperance Brennan. She is a well-rounded and fleshed out character that is an interesting protagonist. The story revolves around a mystery but due to her unique field it also revolves around the forensics that are used in the mystery which is an interesting focus. Not many mysteries focus on that side of the investigation instead of on the actual investigating side of things. Overall, it was a pretty good book and an interesting continuation of the story of Temperance Brennan so I am happy giving it four out of five stars.
This book is a mystery or crime novel with elements of the police procedural type so if that appeals to you than I suggest you consider trying it. While this book is technically part of a series you can probably read it as a stand-alone novel. Reading the previous book would provide greater depth to the character but is not absolutely required. In terms of age range this book is aimed at an adult audience and considering the content I would agree with that. There is very little violence present but there are a few mature references and a lot of rather gruesome details related to the bodies being investigated. Because of that content I would not recommend it to younger readers. At best I would only suggest older teens and young adults but none younger than probably about sixteen or so. The book is pretty good though so if you enjoy mysteries I hope you consider trying it out. Remember to share your thoughts in the comments if you do.