I am a newcomer to crime fiction and decided to give this a go after becoming a massive fan of the TV Show Bones, which is linked with the Kathy Reichs character of Tempe and has the author as a producer on the show. I enjoyed most of the novel, and the characters were developed more than I expected, (the fleshing out of Tempe's history gave a level of depth). The relationship between Claudel and Tempe was particularly well laid out. I found the scientific procedures detailed but not overbearing, lending the novel a hard realism. All in all, an enjoyable first encounter with Reichs and I will definitely read more of her work in the future. ( )

Reich's depiction of mid-90s Montreal is spot-on. As a highschooler from the suburbs, excursions into the underbelly area around St Laurent above Chinatown were a source of nervous excitement.

Déjà Dead kept me up a few nights with that "One more chapter..." feeling, and caused me to jump at unexpected night noises, so it performed well as a thriller/suspense story in that regard.

However, there were occasional awkward similes that pulled me out of the story for a moment or two. I could have done with fewer episodes of phone tag as well. ( )

Reichs doesn't spare the details or dumb the forensics down for the reader, which is something I appreciate. This version of Temperance Brennan is much more interesting than her TV counterpart (no offense to Emily Deschanel intended). I can't help but wince some of these similes though: "I still couldn't escape the feeling.... It gnawed at me like a hamster with a carrot." And three pages later, this gem: "I needed him here like I needed a yeast infection." Ouch.Either she eases off on the goofy language later in the book, or I got so wrapped up in the action that I sent my inner snob packing and just lost myself in the story. Whatever the case, I was glued to the pages for the second half. ( )

Excellent start to a series. Characters are well written and the science behind Tempe's deductions is amazing, but not too technical for those of us that aren't science minded.

Women are being killed. Tempe is convinced that one man is doing the killing and is trying to convince the police of this before it hits too close to home. ( )

This was the first book by Kathy Reichs that I've read and it was the one that got me to read all the ones after that. I enjoyed the story, the characters, the plot and the forensics. The story wasn't too complicated to grasp. I was glad to discover that this wasn't a book like many others that I've read, in which everything turns out well and everyone survived. I've enjoyed reading this book, very much. ( )