Monday Mourning

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist for both North Carolina and Quebec, has come from Charlotte to Montreal during the bleak days of December to testify as an expert witness at a murder trial." "She should be going over her notes, but instead she's digging in the basement of a pizza parlor. Not fun. Freezing cold. Crawling rats. And now the skeletonized remains of three young women. How did they get there? When did they die?" "Homicide detective Luc Claudel, never Tempe's greatest fan, believes the bones are historic. Not his case, not his concern. The pizza parlor owner found nineteenth-century buttons in the cellar with the skeletons. Claudel takes them as an indicator of the bones' antiquity." "But something doesn't make sense. Tempe examines the bones in her lab and establishes approximate age with Carbon 14. Further study of tooth enamel tells her where the women were born. If she's right, Claudel has three recent murders on his hands. Definitely his case." "Detective Andrew Ryan, meanwhile, is acting mysteriously. What are those private phone calls he takes in the other room, and why does he suddenly disappear just when Tempe is beginning to hope he might be a permanent part of her life? Looks like more lonely nights for Tempe and Birdie, her cat." As Tempe searches for answers in both her personal and professional lives, she finds herself drawn deep into a web of evil from which there may be no escape. Women have disappeared, never to return ... Tempe may be next.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Forensic scientist Tempe Brennan isn't happy: it's freezing in Montreal, her detective boyfriend is giving her the cold shoulder and her macho colleagues won't take her seriously. When Reichs's heroine is called in to examine three skeletons discovered in the basement of a pizza parlor at the start of the seventh installment in this popular series, her instincts tell her a crime was recently committed. Chauvinistic homicide detective Luc Claudel doesn't agree, but Tempe forges ahead and soon discovers that the victims are young women, probably teenagers killed sometime in the 1980s. Already feeling vulnerable because she's left her beloved daughter, Katy, back home in North Carolina, Tempe is further troubled by the indifference of formerly avid lover Andrew Ryan (another Montreal detective). Meanwhile, new developments lead Tempe and her reluctant colleagues to suspect a creepy former pawn store owner of serial kidnappings, torture and grisly murder. What's best about Reichs, and often unappreciated in reviews, is not the informative detail that she brings to Tempe's forensic sleuthing, though that's certainly engrossing. It's the same well-observed detail and incisive analysis applied to other aspects of the story. Tempe deconstructs Ryan's every evasive gesture and casual comment and describes an ominously darkened room, the glow from a UV light and an armada of snow plows with vivid precision. Here, as previously, readers will be as invested in Tempe's life as in her case. Agent, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. (June 15) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Ever had a bad Monday? Forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan's Mondays bring bodies that shouldn't be dead. Most recently her Monday begins in a muddy pizza parlor cellar, where she unearths bones that belong to three young girls and lead Tempe into yet another frightful case. By following the trail through frozen Montreal, Tempe enters a nightmare world of kidnapping and torture at odds with the Christmas scenes around her. Tempe's focus is never far from the girls, but she is distracted by her lover's unexplained remoteness and an old friend's marital woes. Michelle Pawk is an excellent reader; her elastic voice stretches with Tempe's continually shifting moods-from confident to anxious, from angry to gentle. Pawk's Southern and French accents are charming; she is even able to bring some warmth into the usually frozen Detective Claudel, Tempe's ongoing antagonist. Recommended for most mystery collections.-Juleigh Muirhead Clark, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Lib., Colonial Williamsburg Fdn., VA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

AudioFile

The latest novel by Kathy Reichs again features Tempe Brennan, forensic anthropologist for North Carolina and Quebec—the same role Reichs occupies in real life. While the geography is unusual, Reichs's stories are interesting, educational, well-written, and fun. In this title, Brennan discovers the skeletons of three women in the basement of a pizzeria. Of course, it's Brennan's further "digging" that eventually uncovers the murderer. Michelle Pawk has a soft but strong voice, which she uses effectively, changing her style as Brennan's emotions ebb and flow. Pawk is especially effective when Brennan reveals her feelings about chauvinist detective Luc Claudel and Detective Andrew Ryan, whom Brennan adores, but whose actions leave her wondering if his feelings are reciprocal. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews