#BookReview :: Deadly Decisions (Temperance Brennan #3) by Kathy Reichs

Temperance Brennan is a forensic anthropologist with one of the longest commutes in fiction--from North Carolina to Montreal. She works in both places, and in this third outing (after Déjà Dead and Death du Jour) she manages to make a riveting (if a bit too coincidental) connection between a skull in Montreal and the partial skeleton of a teenager--dead since 1984--in North Carolina. Linking them is a 9-year-old girl shot on a Montreal street, the victim of a war among members of an outlaw motorcycle gang in eastern Canada. Another piece of the puzzle is provided by Tempe's visiting nephew, who is fascinated by the biker culture and is drawn into the mystery Tempe's trying to solve. 






Temperance Brennan manages to make a connection between a skull in Montreal and the partial skeleton of a teenager in North Carolina. And caught in between is a 9-year-old girl who is shot at on a Montreal street. As Tempe decides gets involved in this case, she discovers that the biker gangs are involved. Her nephew becomes a bit too interested in their lifestyle and also gets involved with a not so upfront reporter. Looking into the deaths of young girls killed twenty years apart, Tempe reveals her most sensitive side in this novel.

While I have very limited experience in reading the Temperance Brennan Series, I feel that so far of all the novels that I have read, this one reveals the softer side of Tempe. Her take on these murders and the zeal to bring the murderers to justice rally made me see Tempe in a new light.

There’s a lot of background provided for the sake of the people who are not so aware of the lifestyle of the bikers (read ‘ME’). I do not really know much about the biker lifestyle let alone biker gangs and as such, this was an interesting read for me. Besides, as is usual for a Kathy Reichs novel, there’s a lot of forensic details involved. This time the focus was mainly on blood splatter, and thanks to Dexter and CSI TV Series, I knew something about them already and was quick to catch up on.

The Temperance Brennan Series in general is very predictable and the element of ‘coincidence’ usually plays a hand at them. This book was no different. But what with Kit, Tempe’s Nephew, being involved, the author managed to maintain a certain level of tension throughout the book. This was another couple of hours of Page turning entertainment.

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