From Publishers Weekly
Shaber's brisk fifth Simon Shaw cozy (after 2004's
The Bug Funeral) obliges the Raleigh, N.C., history professor to apply his forensic skills to the murder of a close friend and colleague. David Morgan, a highly regarded archeologist, is found bludgeoned to death, his notes and collection of ancient Native American artifacts missing. Morgan had sat on a committee formed to decide the fate of a 14,000-year-old Paleo-Indian skeleton: should the remains be preserved in a museum for all to study or reverently interred in Indian burial grounds? The controversy may have provided a motive for the murder. Suspects include Morgan's sister, his gorgeous assistant and various colleagues, none with alibis. Simon proves his resourcefulness after a plane crash strands him in the wilderness of North Carolina's Nantahala National Forrest. Amorous interludes lend some spice.
(Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
History professor Simon Shaw is stunned when he learns that his good friend David Morgan has been murdered. As Simon, a "forensic historian," has experience helping the Raleigh, North Carolina, police solve old cases, he is eager to participate in the investigation of his friend's murder, but he is warned off the case. The obvious suspect is Morgan's sister, who inherits his estate, but Simon believes Morgan's involvement with a committee that is to decide the fate of Uwharrie Man, a recently discovered prehistoric skeleton, may be behind the crime. It looks like Morgan's vote would have decided whether Uwharrie Man would be studied by scientists or buried by the Lumbee Nation, and Morgan's notes are missing. Prehistoric detail--and the overarching question of what should happen to prehistoric artifacts and skeletons--frames the mystery, which centers on academic rivalry. In this fifth in the series, Shaber adds new dimension to the likable Simon by portraying his struggle to get over a failed romantic relationship. Fans of Aaron Elkins' archaeology mysteries will enjoy the prehistory milieu.
Sue O'BrienCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
