Deja Dead: A Novel (A Temperance Brennan Novel)

This is the first novel introducing Temperance Brennan, Forensic Anthropologist. For those of you who are familiar with the TV show "Bones," you may not recognize the Tempe in this book. Dr. Brennan is a recovering alcoholic, divorced, with a grown daughter, who splits her work time between the Carolinas and Canada. In this novel, the brutal murder case she is working brings to mind a similar case from the past, and she becomes obsessed with the idea that they are dealing with a serial killer. She weaves her way through the case, stepping on toes and going out on her own to try and identify the killer before there is yet another victim.
There's a fair amount of dark sarcasm throughout this novel, but it serves a purpose. We nestle inside Tempe's mind while she navigates through her personal and professional lives with very little of the bravado we see in the television series. In this novel, Dr. Brennan is all too human: fighting the demons of her alcoholism and questioning her parenting skills while striving to maintain her focus and professionalism.
This is my first read of a Kathy Reichs novel, and I look forward to following up the series with as many as I can find.

I'm fascinated by adaptations, and even though this isn't a strict adaptation linking novel-to-television-show, I looked forward to reading the inspirational source for the successful television series 'Bones'. Kathy Reichs demonstrates her scientific expertise, which is no surprise considering her background in forensic anthropology. The plot of 'Deja Dead' is compelling, and the forensics is fascinating to learn about. However, there are some flaws which I expect are ironed out in subsequent novels. Those flaws center primarily around suspension of the reader's belief (evidence indicating the location of an additional body when corresponding marks on a map have revealed other victims would never be ignored by the police). Additionally, the heroine's independent, workaholic nature is understandable, yet this version of Temperence Brennan does some remarkably stupid things while investigating a serial killer who has put a target on her back. All in all, this is a novel that shows the author has real promise, and I look forward to reading more of her work.

I absolutely love everything about this book! It grabs your attention, you connect with Temps almost instantly...this book lead me to a reading binge! I read the whole series in one week and am now anxiously awaiting the next release!

The story line was good and kept your interest, but if you are a fan of the TV show "Bones", the Tempe Brennan character in the book was nothing like the TV character. The book character was actually disappointing at first. However, this book is the first one in the series, so maybe as I read through subsequent books, the character will develop into someone more likable.

If you watch the TV series: Bones. You will discover that the setting and people are different in the book. On the TV series if you don't want to see the blood and guts, you can look the other way. But in the book you need to read each and every word. The story keeps you going and at times I thought I knew who the murder was, but I was wrong. I couldn't put the book down. I was on pines and needles until the real truth was revealed.

Enjoy!

I completely agree with One-Star reviewers. Tempe is not likable - sometimes, I could not stand her so that i had to put down the book and not go back to it for several days. However, the plot WAS intriguing, so I had to continue reading it to the end.
I have read ALL Scarpetta novels, and I HAD NEVER ONCE felt irritated by Scarpetta. So - here we go, this Tempe character couldn't hold a candle to Patricia Cornwell's.
Another thing - lengthy descriptions of technical procedures. Pages and pages of them. Really? I am not here to study for anthropology or forensic medicine degree!
So, after finishing this one I will pass on all others. I want to like the heroine.

Kathy Reichs is an outstanding writer whose descriptions give clear mental images and whose thought patterns are intriguing enough to hold my attention for hours. This book was a first big seller, but it is very sophisticated as a forensic thriller. I really like her use of French throughout the book which gives it an even more educational quality. Thoroughly enjoyed!

Deja Dead is another novel written by Kathy Reichs published in 1997 and stands the test of time. Do not expect it to resemble BONES series on TV. Tempe has left behind a failing marriage in North Carolina and has headed to Quebec to uncover the story behind another body!

I titled this "Still not over" becuase that's what I think whenever I look down at the percentage of the book I've read. I'm only at 38% and feel like I've struggled through War and Peace. I finally started this series because I love the TV version, but this book is almost nothing but descriptions of everything from the color of her toothpaste and what that particular shade means in the scheme of life to every street she drives down and what EVERY person out there is wearing. Boring! I wanted so much to have found a great new series, but this book is about 1 percent action, 99 percent adjectives and inner reflection. Yawn. Not going to reach 39% I'm afraid.

SIDE NOTE: I am now on book 6 of the series and really enjoy it! I'm not sure what changed, but book 2 is much better and the series continues to improve. I even like Tempe now.

Mystery novels are more exciting when the protagonist is smarter than a ham sandwich. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Deja Dead. Much of the book's tension is derived from the idea that nobody will believe Dr. Brennan when she insists that a serial murderer must be at work. This seems a little hard to swallow considering that not only did they find a map in the likely killer's room early in the book that marked the locations of three dead bodies they knew of, BUT ALSO marked the location of a previously undiscovered body. Did they assume the map maker was psychic? That fact alone would seem likely to sway even the most grisled detective, but all the characters seem to ignore this proof (along with ALL the forensic evidence) for a couple of hundred pages. Therefore Dr. Brennan is forced to go it alone in her quest for justice.

Please. It makes no sense. Nor does it make sense that she inexplicably fails to mention to her endangered friend that a severed head appeared on her lawn the day before (that might have been information the friend took into account before heading out on her own, no?) The author seems to need the plot devices to go in certain directions and will allow her characters to avoid any modicum of reason or common sense to get them there. The unfortunate result is that the reader spends the whole book wishing the killer would make quick work of all of them to put them out of their misery. If the main character weren't actively sabotaging her own investigation by keeping all the critically important facts secret from anyone with the power and know-how to investigate them the book would be about twenty pages long. The result is a novel devoid of any real intrigue that devolves into a frustrating mess.

I was hooked from the first page. Looking forward to reading more novels from Kathy Reichs. I guess being formely from Montreal piqued my curiosity even more. I know that Temperance Brennan will give me many hours of great adventure.
I would recommend this book, to anyone who love's the show "Bones". I am hooked.

I was hooked from the first page. Looking forward to reading more novels from Kathy Reichs. I guess being formely from Montreal piqued my curiosity even more. I know that Temperance Brennan will give me many hours of great adventure.
I would recommend this book, to anyone who love's the show "Bones". I am hooked.

I bought this book because I love the Bones television show and this was the first book in the series that inspired teh show. I was expecting it to be a little more like the television show, with great character interaction as well as the technical crime mysteries, but the book tends to go very far into the details of the science, to the point where it is over my head and I have to reread a page twelve times to figure out what was going on. Perhaps the rest of the books are different since this was the first, but I am not sure if I am willing to read the second book. Good story either way.

I had hoped for more after watching the show. The show did not copy the character in the book and I think is more interesting than the book. The books are okay as murder mysteries and a decent read but suffered from the comparison.

I have all the Temperance Brennan Novels I could find by Kathy Reichs. She is a great writer and makes her novels so real that you feel it is likely to be a true story. I love the way she handles her cases and her private life. She seems like a real person. I have found all of Ms Reichs' books to be excellent.

I read another of Kathy Reichs books before reading this, her first novel. I liked it, but thought i probably wouldn't read any more of them. They were not like the TV show Bones and the Temperance Brennan that I love there. But after some consideration, I thought I should give it another try. So I chose her first book about Bones. Love it. Highly recommend it. It still is not like the TV show, but the energy this book gives the reader is wonderful. The mystery of her researching the dead and what the character would do to find the answers were spellbinding. There were times when I needed to go to sleep and could literally not put the book down until she got to where she was going at the times. I even found myself holding my breath occasionally.

Great read. Must read for any murder mystery reader.

Decent murder mystery, just not my style of novel. Chosen because I was curious about this author since her novels inspired the TV show "Bones". I discovered that I prefer this type of mystery visually when the characters actually show you the body, details, etc. instead of reading about it.
Main character lacked something but I cannot precisely say what.
I can boil the theme down to a few words: compulsive forensic female scientist finds evidence of a serial killer and hunts him down. Lots of typical psycho babble which has been dealt with endlessly on TV and books. This takes place in Canadian where French speakers are thrown in as a bonus though I did not think it added anything. Nothing new or interesting to me.
Part of my issue with this novel is that I have been reading historical fiction and non-fiction stories that are written so much better, that this comes across as almost mediocre.
I did not pay much for the book, as I got it on a special deal. I think I would be more disappointed in the book if I had paid more.
note: read as a e-book.

Although this was an early book it lacked continuity of story and failed to introduce characters as they entered the story. This book appeared to be hastily written and was not one of her standard quality works.

Good Procedural. Slow and whiney in few places but worth the read.
I've read several in the series, I like the concept, but must say that Patricia Cornwell's Scarpetta Novels are much more exciting.

I am enjoying the author's graphic description of forensic examinations of the victims and her empathy/sympathy for them as individuals. Also the interaction between the professional crime fighter in the story.

While reading this book I couldn't help but notice that whoever did the copyediting did such a poor job it actually interfered with the flow of the writing. In the first chapter, the word animal is misspelled, the word 'entered' is used instead of 'interred' (the former being the old French spelling of the latter!). I think Ms. Reichs has spent far too much time in Montreal for something like that to slip through. And I have a theory that the person who edited the novel is Canadian with their second language being English. There are sentences that start in the past tense and end in the present tense (I walked to the apartment, which is 100 years old...). Then there are the paragraphs that add absolutely nothing to the story except for filler. The number of times I had to reread a sentence because it made no sense was startling. It took about a hundred pages to get used to this painful writing.

I think I read somewhere that this is her first novel, and if that's true, it certainly reads like one. The forensics and biology were dead-on accurate (as they should be), and some sentences were so good I actually wondered what they were doing in the book. Sort of like finding a red rose in a giant landfill. The story is fairly good, but it's very difficult to read about Tempe Brennen who doesn't jive with the TV version of the same character. The one on TV is actually better. The one in the book, aside from the temper, is completely different. Very strange.

Anyway, the book is what it is, and I'd even lend it to a friend and recommend it. The only caveat being is that for a first novel, the publishers really should have taken more care to proofread the work.