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    Old Bones
    Old Bones
    Old Bones
    Ebook330 pages4 hours

    Old Bones

    By Aaron Elkins

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    An Edgar Award–winning mystery featuring the forensic anthropologist hailed as “a likable, down-to-earth, cerebral sleuth”—from the author of Switcheroo (Chicago Tribune).

    “With the roar of thunder and the speed of a galloping horse comes the tide to Mont St. Michel,” goes the old nursery song. So when the aged patriarch of the du Rocher family falls victim to the perilous tide, even the old man’s family accepts the verdict of accidental drowning.

    But too quickly, this “accident” is followed by a bizarre discovery in the ancient du Rocher chateau: a human skeleton, wrapped in butcher paper, beneath the old stone flooring. Professor Gideon Oliver, lecturing on forensic anthropology at nearby St. Malo, is asked to examine the bones. He quickly demonstrates why he is known as the “Skeleton Detective,” providing the police with forensic details that lead them to conclude that these are the remains of a Nazi officer believed to have been murdered in the area during the Occupation. Or are they? Gideon himself has his doubts. Then, when another of the current du Rochers dies—this time via cyanide poisoning—his doubts solidify into a single certainty: Someone wants old secrets to stay buried . . . and is perfectly willing to eradicate the meddlesome American to make that happen.

    Voted one of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association’s 100 Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century, and featuring “a thrilling final scene,” Old Bones will captivate fans of Kathy Reichs and Tess Gerritsen as well as readers of Aaron Elkins’s popular Alix London series (Publishers Weekly).

    Old Bones is the 4th book in the Gideon Oliver Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateApr 1, 2014
    ISBN9781497610002
    Author

    Aaron Elkins

    Aaron Elkins’s mysteries and thrillers have earned him an Edgar, an Agatha, a Nero Wolfe Award, and a Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement Award. His nonfiction works have appeared in Smithsonian magazine, the New York Times magazine, and Writer’s Digest. A former anthropology professor, Elkins is known for starting the forensic-mystery genre with his 1982 novel, Fellowship of Fear. He currently serves as the anthropological consultant for the Olympic Peninsula Cold Case Task Force in Washington State. Elkins lives in Washington with his wife, Charlotte—his occasional collaborator—who is also an Agatha winner.

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    Reviews for Old Bones

    4.5/5

    15 ratings5 reviews

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    • 5/5
      could not put down
    • 5/5
      Anthropology professor and "Skeleton Detective" Gideon Oliver is participating in an international police conference in Brittany when he gets a chance to help investigate some old bones found in a cellar. The cellar belongs to a manoir, which belongs to an eminently dysfunctional extended family, one member of which is a young friend of Gideon's. The investigation points back to World War II and the death of a family member said to have been executed by the SS for Resistance activity. Before the satisfying conclusion there are many twists and turns and a heart-stopping and very dangerous situation for Gideon and his friends. There's also an offbeat love story and a setting that makes the reader want to hop on the next plane to France. The interactions of Gideon, his policeman friend John Lau, and the local Inspecteur Joly seem quite believable, and John offers comic relief. It might be interesting to read this side-by-side with another nominee from that year, Peter Lovesey's ROUGH CIDER, which also has a theme harking back to World War II, but in England. Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      I loathed the beginning, but really only because it was so well done. I was just so horrified--an old man struggling and trying to escape an incoming tide but no hope in sight! Gah!

      But getting past that, the mystery was entertaining enough. It was fairly simply to figure out the "twist" (if it was supposed to be a twist) before the end but the journey to get there was interesting.
    • 4/5
      I love this novel. It has wonderful ingredients for a unique and memorable mystery. Set on Mont Ste Michel, the book opens with the sudden death of the family patriarch as he tarries too long on the sands and the treacherous tides catch him off guard. His death leads to a reunion of what remains of his unpleasant and ever-quibbling family and to the unearthing of family secrets buried since the Nazi occupation in WW II.Gideon Oliver is a delightful character in all of Elkin's Bones series, but the evocative ambiance and mix of mysteries old and new make this my favorite.I read this book years ago and many of its images stayed with me. I've wanted to visit Mont Ste Michel ever since! It survived a recent re-reading and was every bit as good as I'd remembered.
    • 4/5
      This book is fun. Crazy twists in established histories...And the clues are neat - the rickety rosary and the sternal foramen...look them up or better yet, read the book!

    Book preview

    Old Bones - Aaron Elkins

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