Anthropology

Monday Mourning  is the seventh novel among Dr. Kathleen Reichs Temperance Brennan series which she started writing in 1997. According to the official site of the author, up to date, there are already 12 released books about the different cases of the character of Temperance, or Tempe for short, as a forensic anthropologist. Like the character of her protagonist, Kathy Reichs is a known forensic anthropologist herself in real life and is one of the selected certified specialists by American Board of Forensic Anthropology.  Monday Mourning  is actually inspired from a true story she heard. 

The story opens up in a freezing Monday Mourning in the month of December at Montreal where a plumber finds bones in the basement of a pizzeria. Tempe Brennan as a     forensic anthropologist engages herself in identifying skeletons with Detective Luc Claudel and is tasked to work on the three sets of bones of what appears to be all young women. The setting of the plot mainly expounds on the title of the novel. The bones seem to be old with few antique buttons nearby and Detective Luc assumes right away that the bones and buttons are related and thus, dismisses to investigate with regard to old deaths. However, Tempe has a different assumption which Detective Luc continually ignores. The two have been contradicting each other especially since Detective Luc believes that a woman does not have a space in police work. Despite this, Tempe decides to work alone on the case with her hunch that it was a recent death.

Tempe has the set of bones tested for Carbon 14 dating and Teeth Strontium, and both tests are helpful in solving the case. One makes it easy to identify how old the bones are and indicates when the death occurred while the other gives an area where the victims live. While waiting for the results of the test, she makes a research background on the previous tenants of the pizzeria and eventually discovers that it formerly served other business purposes and was owned by a certain Nicolo Cataneo who is in the Mafia. In the process of her research, she finds another case of crime which in the end is related to the three young women.

The plot starts to twist up when the personal life of the protagonist begins to complicate. Her relationship with Detective Andrew Ryan goes on and off and she eventually discovers a third party trying to destroy their love affair. Moreover, Anne, best friend of Tempe, calls on her to talk to about her problems. As when they are about to enter Tempes apartment, they find out that it has been trespassed by burglars. With everything happening at the same time Detective Luc giving her a hard time investigating, her boyfriend hiding an affair, and her best friends problem with her husband Tempe has to deal with both of her professional and personal life at the same time. All this coming and the Carbon 14 test proves the theories of Tempe correct, leading her to the killer. It starts to heat up more when Tempe involves Ryan and Anne accidentally in the case, placing their lives in danger against a villain they are not expecting.

The author is undeniably an expert in describing the process of forensic anthropology. She gives justice to all the procedures using the proper terminologies. It is not surprising given that Kathy Reichs uses her knowledge and experience in writing her novels. On the other side, the terminologies used are too technical that I think a layman would not be able to understand at one reading. They are too detailed in jargons, making the novel somehow confusing.

The novel is written in the first person point of view, and it helps the readers to relate more with what the character is experiencing. Tempe has been a model of a strong woman blending in the field work known primarily for men. Her intelligence can awe anyone, but her soft side is shown by the struggles in her relationship and personal character.

The novel can generally grab the interest of audience who are into forensics and suspense. Reading it can make one hang on the book, not put it down until he or she finishes it, and crave for more of Tempes forensics adventure.