Kathy Reichs’ Deja Dead (1997)
This is a detective mystery novel, the kind that Reich’s always writes. Kathy Reichs is actually a forensic anthropologist and does police work all the time. What she brings to her books and especially to this one is her deep knowledge and understanding of what she is writing about. She knows every part of the forensic science skills need to solve murder mysteries.
Deja Dead is the story of her and the police’s efforts to solve five murders of women in the Montreal area. There are some striking similarities in the way the bodies of the women were killed and then mutilated. All of the women were cut into pieces after their deaths and the body parts were put into plastic garbage bags for easy disposal. The dismembering of the bodies reminded the investigators of the work of butchers, or of people who had a good understanding of how to take a body apart neatly. The one unclean cut that was made on the bodies of the victims was that in each case the hands were just chopped off. In three of the five cases objects had been inserted into the vaginas of the victims before they died. This must have caused them great suffering. The objects ranged from a bathroom plunger, a religious statue and a knife. These are the only clues that the police and Dr. Brennan have to deal with in solving the murders.
To further complicate the action of the story, Dr. Brennan is a difficult woman. She thinks that she knows both more and better than the police, and often leaves them out of her thinking. She meets the members of the victims’ families and asks them probing questions without the knowledge of the police team that she has promised to work with. She also complicates the issue by having her good friend Gabby move in with her and by inviting her daughter to visit her at a time when she knows that she is in danger from the serial killer. One of the most frustrating parts about reading this book is the number of times that Brennan goes off alone without police escort and gets herself into trouble. Her arrogance and sense of superiority somewhat spoil the excitement of the story. At times the reader is so angry with her for her stupidity that the action or events get forgotten. For sure, the importance of them is lost.
Several chapters in the book are simply repeating information or summarizing information that the reader might have forgotten. Again, it is like the author thinks very poorly of the remembering skills of the reader. She certainly finds it necessary to retell information at least five or six times, so that we are very clear about it.
In the end, it appears that there are two suspects who could have committed the crimes. It comes down to Dr. Brennan figuring out which one of the two was the killer. For sure the police could not do it. She does figure out who the murderer is, and of course she is right there with the police when the man is arrested. She saves herself and her daughter from the killer, and ends the story as being the hero. It would certainly be interesting to read this same story from the viewpoint of the policemen who had to work with this difficult woman. I am certain it would have been a very different story.
