Old Bones

Aaron Elkins

Apr 2014 · The Gideon Oliver Mysteries Book 4 · Open Road Media

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.
 

Ratings and reviews

Overall, a pretty good book, probably closer to 3.5 stars than 4. It did start off kinda slow. The main character only had like 2 pages of activity in the first 20% of the book. The plot wasn't all that surprising, I was able to figure out the main twists well before climax. The ultimately responsible murderer was a surprise, though not the reason why. The character development was decent and I really liked Gideon, John and Joly. The later scene at Mont St. Michel seemed a little forced, though it's a place I would LOVE to visit. The eBook was formatted reasonably well with no obvious spelling or grammatical errors, though the line spacing was a little odd at times.

Murder Mystery set in France. Easy read quirky. Characters twists

About the author

Aaron Elkins is a former anthropologist and professor who has been writing mysteries and thrillers since 1982. His major continuing series features forensic anthropologist‐detective Gideon Oliver, “the Skeleton Detective.” There are fifteen published titles to date in the series. The Gideon Oliver books have been (roughly) translated into a major ABC‐TV series and have been selections of the Book‐of‐the‐Month Club, the Literary Guild, and the Readers Digest Condensed Mystery Series. His work has been published in a dozen languages.
 Mr. Elkins won the 1988 Edgar Award for best mystery of the year for Old Bones, the fourth book in the Gideon Oliver Series. He and his cowriter and wife, Charlotte, also won an Agatha Award, and he has also won a Nero Wolfe Award. Mr. Elkins lives on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula with Charlotte.