Published: March 25, 2008 10:59 am         

"Deja Dead" proves Reichs knows decomposition

If you want to know how forensic science can solve a murder investigation, read “Deja Dead” by Kathy Reichs.

Reichs’ books inspired the Fox television show “Bones”, but fans of the show who pick up the book expecting it to be like the show, should know a few things.

First, the book is set in Montreal, where Temperance Brennan has been living since splitting with her husband, Pete, about a year ago. Their daughter, Katy, is thinking about dropping out of college.

There’s no cute Agent Booth to trade one-liners with, no lab “squints” to form a pseudo-family. This is much grittier.

It was supposed to be routine: two city workers found bones near a traditional historic burial site. Tempe’s asked to go to the site and determine whether they are old bones from an old grave.

When she gets there, she knows these aren’t an archaeological find. Tempe is looking at a murder victim.

The more she examines the bones, the more she notices similarities to other cases — other unsolved murders from the past few years. Tempe believes she is looking at a serial killer, but she can’t convince the police investigator, Luc Claudel, who dismisses Tempe’s observations with disdain and a smirk.

Tempe knows what she’s seeing, the victims have been dismembered in the same way, and it’s not enough for her to just identify and give dignity to the murder victims — she sets out to catch the killer, by herself, if necessary.

What Tempe doesn’t count on is the killer finding her before she finds him and her loved ones being targeted by a psychopath.

The saving grace of this story is Tempe herself. Yes, she’s a bit of a control freak, which a psychologist has told her, and tries to do everything herself, but Reichs has also given Tempe emotion and passion. She cares about the victims who come into her lab. She cares about finding justice and gets angry when the men stand in her way because she’s a woman and not a cop. She takes on too much, and in real life, Tempe would probably not be allowed to do the things she does, like tagging along with the cops on a raid, but it drives home the point that Tempe will jump in and do what needs to be done. It also makes the conclusion more believable. Reichs has put together a flawed, but real character to lead her story, and she needs Tempe to balance out the rest.

This story can best be discribed as raw. The language is quite blue, the subject matter covers the worst mankind can offer, and Reichs builds to a truly terrifying conclusion that is every woman’s worst nightmare.

Reichs, a forensic anthropologist herself, is meticulous in detailing the state of the bones Tempe works with. She knows her subject intimately, but it may be a little too much medical jargon for the average reader. Reichs doesn’t slow down to explain most of the unfamiliar terms.

She also details the seamier side of life in Montreal, the prostitutes and their work, the sexual deviants, the lower-middle-class and the way they live. She portrays the frustration of the police who have to deal with the less-than-human behavior of criminals. Some readers may find this more difficult to stomach than the descriptions of decomposing body parts.

The only relief Reichs gives the reader from the brutality is her wry sense of humor and clever turns of phrase. She’s good at it, but there’s too little of it to lighten the mood.

“Deja Dead” is a blood and guts story told with a stark, unblinking view from someone who’s seen it in real life.