Generally I do not read a lot of narrative prose, but when I do my preferred genre is the murder mystery.My friend Mo recommended Kathy Reichs' Death du Jour to me because of my interest in the sciences and anthropology.I have to admit the book sat on my shelf for about 3 months before I finally got around to examining even the cover, but when I did the author's professional credentials engaged my attention.Dr Reichs is a forensic anthropologist trained at Northwestern University and employed by both the state of North Carolina and the Province of Quebec as an expert in forensics and by the University of North Carolina as a professor of anthropology.Her expertise is definitely reflected in the content of the novel.After reading the first few lines of the book I was hooked.So much was this the case that I finished it in the space of a single afternoon.
Each of the characters is a real person with a distinct personality.The heroine Tempe, a forensic anthropologist--who is much as I imagine Dr. Reichs to be herself--is clearly defined as an individual.She has a past and a present and family relationships and problems much as we all do.Her sister Harry is not simply a carbon copy of the heroine.She too is an individual.
The mise en scene of the action in both Quebec and North Carolina are vividly recreated for the reader.One can almost feel the damp bone-chilling cold of a Canadian winter and the balmy days of a southeastern coastline.Incorporating the little details of activity such as specific restaurants eaten at and things ordered there, specifics of the medical examiners' offices in Montreal and how the character proceeds with her work there addverisimilitude to the narrative.It is abundantly apparent that the author knows her setting and her topic with the thoroughness of the professional participant as opposed to the diligent journalist.To a certain extent, there is a rather more graphic description of each of the deceased than in many mysteries that I've read with a similar format, but there is no attempt to make the subject particularly sensational, just very, very real.
Dr. Reichs' writing style is engaging and carries the reader along swiftly.The central characters are likable and human, much as those of Rita Mae Brown who's mysteries I tend to read just to "visit" old friends.Dialogue is realistic and is not gratuitous and designed to fill space but forwards the story well.Furthermore, it is well tailored to each of the individual characters, contributing to their three dimensional quality.Their mannerisms in speaking, their use of dialect all create a sense of "real people."The rhythm of the words encourages the reader to keep moving smoothly to the denouement.
My one and only complaint would be that the conclusion of the story of Sister Elisabeth Nicolet, the threads of whose history is woven through the main theme, is not quite as interesting as it might have been and leaves one feeling rather more distracted than entertained.
Certainly a mystery worth reading.If nothing else, you'll learn a lot about what forensics.
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