Title: Death du Jour
Author: Kathy Reichs
Series: Temperance Brennan #2
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Anthropology, Science, Crime, Strong women
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Arrow Books
Year: 1999
5th sentence, 74th page: McGill University lies in the heart of Centre-Ville, so even if one is able to comprehend where parking is permitted, it is almost impossible to find a space.

On a bitterly cold March night in Montreal, forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan is exhuming the remains of a nun in the grounds of an old church.

Hours later, Tempe is called to the scene of a horrifying arson. A young family has perished, but there is no explanation, no motive, and no witnesses.

From the charred remains of the inferno to a trail of sinister cult activity, Tempe faces a nerve-shattering case which will test her forensic expertise – and her instinct for survival.

Reichs did it again – she created a spine tingling story that had me enthralled from the first sentence. It was a journey through a series of interconnected cases that had me guessing until the very end. As with Deja Dead, I wasn’t able to read this unless the room was very well lit, and I knew that I wasn’t sleeping alone that night. Reichs is just WAY too good at building a realistic storyline that you can imagine happening in real life.

The introduction of Harry (Tempe’s sister) into the storyline was brilliant. She acted like the anti-Temperance and in doing so, created more layers, not only in the storyline, but also in the characterisation of our favourite crime-fighting heroine. She also helped to offset the seriousness of the storyline and gave us some light-hearted, if not a little awkward, moments that made me smile and think of my sister.

I’ve always been fascinated by cults and the psychology behind them. What makes people join a cult? How do cults brainwash their followers? The anthropological investigation of this was exactly what I was looking for, and very much appreciated. Having been fascinated by this, I have done some random research myself, but Reichs was able to break it down to its bare-bones. Not only that, but it also gives the information in a non-judgemental way. The people who follow these cults aren’t portrayed as anything negative, rather just people who have fallen for the wrong thing. I loved this take, since it bought home the reality that anyone can fall for such groups.

Death du Jour was such a great second instalment to the Temperance Brennan series, I loved the intricacy of the storyline and the humour and honesty of Tempe’s voice throughout.

<- Deja Dead

Deadly Decisions ->

Image source: Goodreads