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Monday Mourning
Kathy Reichs Book Review

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Plot Summary of Monday Mourning
"

Scribner, June 2004, 25.95, 320 pp.
ISBN 0743233976

Tempe Brennan, a world renown forensic anthropologist works for the State of North Carolina through the office of the Chief Medieval Examiner and in Montreal through the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciares et de Medecine Legale. She comes up to Montreal a day early to prepare her testimony for a murder case in which she is to testify in court the next day. Her plans get derailed when bones are discovered in the dirt basement of a pizza parlor. Besides the bones that were dug up by the owner and put in a crate, Tempe finds two other sets of bones in the unfinished basement.

Lab tests prove that the skeletons are all teen-age female Caucasians, but the detective on the case thinks they are a century old, the same age as the building. Tempe's intuition tells her that the deaths are more recent and that the girls were all murdered. Through cutting edge science, Tempe is proven right and the police question previous owners of the store until they think they find the killer. What they end up discovering shocks the unusual unflappable police and in an unexpected twist Tempe finds herself at the mercy of another killer.

Few writers can match Patricia Cornwell when it comes to writing a fantastic crime thriller but Kathy Reichs is one of the rare few. Her protagonist is tough in her professional life but vulnerable when it comes to those she loves. Tempe humanizes police work because she cares and is determined to follow the course she thinks is right even when the police on the case disagree with her. MONDAY MOURNING is a memorable, compelling and eye opening reading experience.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Monday Mourning
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 80%
Misc. Murder Plotlets - Big focus on forensic evidence - Big focus on autopsies
Kind of investigator - police procedural, Foreign
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - scientist
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - a teen
Profession/status: - unemployed
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some
Motive of antagonist - insanity
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
The Americas (not US): Yes
The Americas: - Canada

Style
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 8 or more
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
Most similar books to Monday Mourning
The Ottoman Cage by Barbara Nadel
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Blink of an Eye by Tom Mitcheltree
Dangerous Depths by Kathy Brandt


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Kathy Reichs Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Tracey Ray  

SCHOLARS:
Marci Hendrickson  


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