Déjà Dead

Déjà Dead
Author(s)	Kathy Reichs
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Temperance Brennan
Genre(s)	Crime novel
Publication date	September 1997
Pages	411 pp
OCLC Number	36485776
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 21
LC Classification	PS3568.E476345 D4 1997
Followed by	Death du Jour

Déjà Dead is the first novel by Kathy Reichs starring Temperance Brennan. It won the 1998 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel.^[1]

Plot

When the meticulously dismembered body of a woman is found discovered in the ground of an abandoned monastery which is too "decomposed for standard autopsy", an anthropologist is requested.

Dr. Temperance Brennan, Director of Forensic Anthropology for the province of Quebec, who has been researching recent disappearances in the city, is given the case. Despite the deep cynicism of Detective Claudel who heads the investigation, Brennan is convinced that a serial killer is at work. Her forensic expertise finally convinces Claudel, but only after the body count has risen. Tempe initiates an investigation, but her determined probing places those closest to her in danger.

Critical reception

Reich's work was compared to the Kay Scarpetta novels by Patricia Cornwell.^[2]

References

1. ^ Arthur Ellis Award — list of Best First Novel, Canada: Crime Writers, http://crimewriterscanada.com/cwcNew/pages/awards%20-pastawards%20list.html .
2. ^ Stasio, Marilyn (1997-08-24). "Crime". New York Times Books. New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07E6DF123FF937A1575BC0A961958260&scp=10&sq=Deja%20Dead&st=cse. Retrieved 2008-07-20. .