Temperance, forensic anthropologist for the state of Quebec, is recalled from a course for a gruesome duty. Biker war is raging in Quebec and two of its foot soldiers have blown themselves up. She is the person best qualified to make sense of what remains.
I am slowly making my way through Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan series and this time I read Deadly Decisions, book nº 3.
The book starts with a young girl being murdered amidst a bike gang war. Brennan finds herself very affected by it and she soon starts investigating, not only this death but others related to the bikers as she becomes a part of the task force involved with biker gang crime. When asked to dig an old crime scene she finds not only the bones of two bikers as expected but also those of a young girl that goes on to try to identify. Reich’s books are filled with forensic explanations and this one is no different. I really like her attention to detail although sometimes it makes for a very dry read.
Besides the case she is working on Brennan also has to deal with her nephew who has come to visit and, being fascinated with bikes, can't stay away from some of the bikers that may well be the bad guys in Brennan's case. Now, I like to think I'm pretty tolerant and understanding, but I have to confess that I really disliked Kit and several times thought why Temperance didn't buy him a ticket home and be done with it. Some things are just too serious to let happen and while Kit was fairly immature but thought himself a responsible adult that knew the limits, the fact is that he didn't know where was getting into and Temperance wasn't honest with him from the beginning (I mean you could see right away that the reporter was bad news...).
Another development was Brennan's relationship with Andrew Ryan. Early in the story he is accused of being one of the bad guys and he doesn't appear for most of it. When he does Brennan is made aware of what really is going on and it seems they will have to go their different ways for a while. I have to say that although I did like the story I think Brennan's life apart from the job could use with another direction. I didn't particularly like the nephew or the sister and I was reminded that in Cornwell's Scarpetta books there is also a sister and a niece (instead of the nephew). I would like to see more interaction with the daughter and with Ryan.
The mystery itself was more or less predictable and after so much time spent thinking about the bones of the teenage girl I was expecting another kind of resolution. The way it was it seemed too neat and quickly solved. Still Reichs makes for an interesting read when you want a forensic thriller and I already have book 4 to start one of these days.
Grade: 4/5
I read one of the books in this series...can't remember which one and I remember liking it. Just not enough to move on and read the rest of them. I don't know why...I guess there are quite a few similarities to the Scarpetta series
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