Deja Dead All Over Again

It’s summer and it’s hot. I went on a Netflix binge and got through all available episodes of “Bones”. It’s not a bad show, but I never watched the show until this binge because it’s so different from the books. The show doesn’t do the books justice.

So once I ran out of episodes I decided to go back to the books. The first time I read them it was out of order, based on what the library had, and what I could borrow from other people. I missed reading the first one (this one) completely.

WARNING: The victims of the killer are women. They are violently murdered and sexually assaulted. Much of this is NOT described in detail and never happens on-the-page, but if you’re sensitive to these topics, you might want to skip this book.

The writing style is conversational, easy, and slightly “Noir Detective”. Tempe comes across as a real person with strengths and insecurities and a sense of humour. Compassionate AND intellectual. Emotionally mature. Basically everything that “Bones” is not.

Brennan is an anthropologist that’s called in by the Quebec police when a body is too badly decomposed to ID through standard methods. During one autopsy Brennan realizes the body before her wasn’t just some random killer, but the work of a serial killer who is escalating. It takes a long time before she convinces the police — there are more deaths and serious threats to her safety before they take her seriously. She worries about getting fired because she’s so adamant about the possibility of a serial killer.

The story is good. Convincing. Tempe breaks the rules and gets in trouble for it. There isn’t that weird, magical shield that seems to cover non-law-enforcement people on TV. I like that.

I’m looking forward to rereading the others, and checking to see if I’ve missed any others.