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    Old Bones
    Old Bones
    Old Bones
    Audiobook8 hours

    Old Bones

    Written by Aaron Elkins

    Narrated by Joel Richards

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    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).
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateApr 2, 2019
    ISBN9781977337504
    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

    145 ratings11 reviews

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    • 4/5
      My favorite Gideon Oliver mystery. Well worth the price. Elkins' Oliver books are classic mysteries and enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      I received a Reader's Digest version of this work. I liked it a lot. There is the bumbling, brilliant anthropologist with the reputation, his friend, and the usual assortment of extras. The initial murder is superb and was almost repeated later but that led to the unraveling of the whole mystery. Elkins also has added some delightful humor. I think I will seek out more of his work.
    • 5/5
      Members of the du Rocher family have been "summoned" to a meeting at which it's oldest member Guillame intends to make an important announcement. But before they can all get together he is dead, accidentally drowned on the flats of Mont St. Michel, caught by the galloping tide. Guillame's nephew claims to have been in his confidence, and to know what the meeting was about, but he is an unlovely character, and at least one other has a different idea about why they have been brought together.Then the discovery of a skeleton in the cellar of the chateau, one that has apparently been there for over 40 years, calls for the involvement of the police and a bones expert, an American who is lecturing at a forensic science conference.This is the first in this series that I have read, and it certainly won't be the last - there are plenty to choose from.This is a many stranded plot, lots of red herrings, with engaging and interesting characters.
    • 4/5
      Gideon Oliver is lecturing on forensic anthropology at a law enforcement convention in France when he is called in by one of the participants to look at some bones recently found in the cellar of the Du Rocher home. Gideon has been there before since he's acquainted with one of the Du Rocher relatives who is also a college professor in California.Gideon finds himself in the middle of a mystery and a family squabble for the inheritance of the recently deceased Du Rocher who found himself caught by the tides at Mont St. Michel. Events and divisions hark back to the Occupation and questions about loyalty. History suggests that the bones belong to a German officer murdered by members of the Resistance including some Du Rochers. But Gideon isn't convinced. He has quite a different theory. More questions arise when another member of the family - a much hated one - is murdered by drinking wine laced with cyanide.This story was written in 1987 but felt even older to me. I think it was that the plot centered on events that happened during World War II and that many of the current family were involved in those events. Also the family rivalry and sniping at one another felt old-fashioned to me. This is the fourth in the series of eighteen books and the first that I have read which means that this was my introduction to Gideon. I found him to be an interesting character and would like to read more books in the series to learn more about him.I chose the audiobook version since it was an Audible Daily Deal and sounded interesting. I enjoyed Joel Richard's narration. The pacing was excellent and the characters were vocally distinct.
    • 4/5
      History, France, Forensic Anthropology All In One MasterpieceJune 29, 2019Format: Kindle EditionVerified PurchaseAaron Elkins delivers another stellar whodunit with twists and fascinating history and science all blended into one great read. I couldn’t put it down! It got to be 4:30 am and I finally had to put it down to sleep because I kept dropping it on my face. So I finished it AS SOON as I woke up.Great writing, fascinating plots, lovable characters, all are here, folks. Read this book! You will not be sorry.
    • 4/5
      Great setting...
    • 4/5
      Physical anthropologist Gideon Oliver's fame as the “skeleton detective” has earned him an invitation to speak at a conference in France on Science and Detection. When skeletal remains are discovered in the jurisdiction of one of the conference attendees, Dr. Oliver is asked to provide an expert opinion on the case. He's surprised to learn that the discovery occurred at a home he had visited with a former colleague a few years earlier, and that his colleague was there for a family reunion of sorts. The reunion has turned tragic after the drowning death of the home's owner just days earlier. The skeletal remains and the family history both seem to point to something that happened during the German occupation of World War II. At least one member of the household doesn't want Gideon to figure out what happened all those years ago.This book has many of my favorite mystery elements – family history, academics, and an exotic location. There's even a little bit of romance. There were plenty of twists and turns to the mystery, and although I correctly guessed the answer to some of the puzzles, I was just ahead of Oliver and the police. I missed Oliver's wife, Julie, who didn't travel with him this time, but I enjoyed his camaraderie with his friend, John, an FBI agent who was attending the conference. With books set in travel destinations like England, France, and Mexico, this series has a lot of appeal for armchair travelers like me. It's great vacation reading.
    • 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!