Tempe Brennan, forensic anthropologist, is on her way to put a man in jail for for murder with her testimony when she is diverted by a pizza parlor. Not, for pizza, but to watch Sergeant Claudel shoot at rats in the basement. The plumber, working on a remodel located three skeletal remains and quickly turned them all over to the police. Nothing is left but the bones, and Tempe is the expert on bones. The building has been around for centuries, who knows when the bodies were placed there, and Claudel is certain they are too old to be recent, especially when buttons turn up that were from the 19th century. Tempe's gut says otherwise and when carbon dating places the deaths firmly in the 20th century, she puts everyone to task to discover if the cruel killer is still alive.
I've read Reich's work before and really liked her style, but this time she spent so much time describing Montreal, it's streets, restaurants and monuments, that I was ready to shoot something myself. Finely, things started to move and when they did, watch out. Reich threw just enough foreshadowing in to keep me interested. And, I'm a sucker for a mystery that I can't solve. Of course, this time there didn't seem to be that many suspects, but I really liked how she pulled all the bits and pieces together. I also liked the twist at the end.
Reichs inspired the hit series Bones and is on the New York Times Bestseller list frequently with her forensic thrillers based around the character Temperance Brennan. She is definitely an author for mature audiences who can stomach ugliness, evil and grief. Monday Mourning had some pretty strong material and if you're not a fan of Bones, Criminal Minds, etc, because of the evil that is explored, you'd better avoid this novel. Me? I ended up fascinated with the science and Tempe's ability to make sense of it all.
Originally published 3/3/2011
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