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Kathy Reichs is, as any follower of crime fiction must know, a forensic anthropologist -- not that the author is likely to let you forget it. Whether it is her innards-related profession or a simple innate quality, her work, both literary and real life, is imbued with blood. I still have nightmares about the corpses draped tastefully on the trees from FATAL VOYAGE. Those readers with a touch of necrophilia won't be disappointed in MONDAY MOURNING. Tempe Brennan, Reichs' protagonist who has been created in the professional likeness of her author, is nearly spattered with blood and brains on the first page of this thriller. I hope I don't spoil the surprise when I say the body fragments are of a rodent, not a human. Temperance and sergeant-detective Luc Claudel, possessed of mutual antipathy and disdain, are exhuming bones from the cellar of a pizzeria in Montreal. Claudel is convinced the bones, formerly animated in the bodies of three young girls, are ancient; Tempe is equally convinced they could be of modern origin. The forensic anthropologist must do her best to ignore her emotions as she feels her sometime lover, Michael Ryan, who works with detectives Claudel and Charbonneau, is losing interest in her. To complicate her life further, Tempe's best friend Anne announces she is to pay a visit as she needs emotional support. Brennan is not able to call upon the resources of the police to pursue her enquiries into the origin of the bones. Anne points out that the two of them could do a little private investigating so Tempe adopts the suggestion. It comes to light that the building where the bones were unearthed was once owned by a notorious crime figure. Could he, perhaps, have been responsible for the deaths of the three young girls? Tempe goes outside her permitted limits in order to establish the age and provenance of the dead girls. The reader is of course then treated to a long (very long) lecture on carbon and strontium dating procedures. No doubt Reichs assumes this adds to the flavour of the tale. As is customary, Brennan finds things are far from straightforward. Always she must deal with the worries in her personal life in counterpoint to her professional duties and, of course, she finds herself in dire physical peril. I am not saying I don't enjoy books by Kathy Reichs. On the contrary. I do enjoy them. I just wish she would cut down on both gore and lectures. To my mind, a bloodstain is as effective as a puddle -- or indeed a river -- of the red stuff. Similarly, a brief mention of physiology and science would be enough for most readers (I hasten to add that I have a science background so probably find the lectures more interesting than would a large portion of Reichs' readership.) All this having been said, those who enjoy Reichs' work will undoubtedly enjoy this outing. The author's books are invariably well-written and beautifully plotted despite their tendency to get bogged down in science at times. This story takes a couple of unexpected turns or three and is very good value.
Reviewed by Denise Pickles, July 2004
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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