Aaron Elkins
Book Blurbs:
Gideon Oliver expects to be amicably bored when he takes on the role of accompanying spouse at a lodge in the magnificent wild country of Glacier Bay Alaska where his forest ranger wife Julie is attending a conference But it turns out to be exactly his cup of tea There is another group at the lodge six scientists on a memorial journey to the site of a thirtyyearold glacial avalanche that killed three of their colleagues Their leader is TV s most popular science personality the unctuous M Audley Tremaine who is the sole survivor of the fatal avalanche But he does not survive long and is soon found hanged in his room If that is not upsetting enough shocked hikers discover human bones emerging from the foot of the glacier are they the shattered remains of the three who died finally seeing daylight after their twomile threedecade journey within the glacial flow When the FBI seeks expert help everyone agrees how fortunate it is that Dr Oliver the famed Skeleton Detective is on the scene Everybody that is but the person who wants ancient history to stay that way and who believes that murder is the surest way to keep the past buried
Buried ceremoniously, high in a cave on the Rock of Gibraltar, lies the skeleton of a human woman, clutching the skeleton of a part-human, part-Neanderthal child. Fascinated, Professor Oliver jumps at the chance to visit the site. But two deaths, possibly murders, have rocked Gibraltar. As Oliver tries to piece things together, he's about to fall for some deadly tricks. After all, unlike the Gibraltar Boy, he's only human.
Aaron Elkin's Gideon Oliver novels are a bit like a Disney movie - sometimes formulaic (Gideon is off somewhere, bones are discovered and examined, near the end he has an 'Ah-ha!' moment and solves the case) but, just like a Disney movie, very entertaining. These two books are no exception.
Icy Clutches is earlier in Gideon’s career. He’s already firmly established as the Skeleton Detective. His wife, a forest ranger, is at a retreat in Alaska; Gideon tags along. Initially he’s bored, but then bones are discovered for him to ‘detect’ on.
Uneasy Relations, in contrast, is set later and in a warmer climate, along the Mediterranean. This time, his wife is tagging along with him. Like Icy Clutches, there are interesting side characters and eventually bones to be examined.
As I alluded to above, both are entertaining. Reading more than a couple together might start to get overly formulaic, but a couple every now and then are always good fun.
Recommended.
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