From Publishers Weekly
African-American police detective Marti MacAlister is used to "simple" murders, not ones whose roots are as old and entwined with history as those she encounters in Bland's 11th meaty mystery (after 2002's Windy City Dying). Set in Lincoln Prairie, Ill., home to Potawatomi Indians, past and present, and to an early settler, Idbash Smith, who was a conductor on the Underground Railroad, the story has a supernatural element that only mildly distracts amid the otherwise realistic crime-solving. When Marti and partner Matthew "Vik" Jessenovik look into the death of a young archeologist working alone at a site on the vast estate of Josiah Smith, they discover an odd history of accidents, most involving members of the Smith family. An aging black Jewish convert tracing his lineage from slavery to freedom and an unidentified Native-American body provide other threads that will take Marti into uncharted areas for an urban homicide investigation. Patience and persistence are the keys to the solution as Marti and Vik uncover the ghosts of the past literally and figuratively. This is a strong addition to a strong series, with a delightful kick of an ending.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
The tenth entry in Bland's series starring Marti MacAlister, an African American detective, formerly of the Chicago Police Department and now working in nearby Lincoln Prairie, is a historical excavation as well as a mystery. As MacAlister and partner Vik Jessenovik investigate suspicious deaths connected to the site of an archaeological dig, readers will learn a great deal about remains from Potawotami Indians as well as from runaway slaves seeking the Underground Railroad. A young archaeology student is hired to excavate on the grounds of a mansion whose inhabitants have long been plagued by bad luck. The student ends up crushed to death by a boulder, as does a workman sent after her to excavate. Unearthing a trove of long-kept secrets, MacAlister suddenly finds herself in the middle of a fight between preservationists and developers. A skillful blend of history and mystery, enlivened by MacAlister's jauntily determined character.
Connie FletcherCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
