Uneasy Relations

May 26, 2008
In Edgar-winner Elkins's absorbing 15th novel to feature forensics anthropology professor Gideon Oliver (after 2007's Little Tiny Teeth
), Oliver and his wife, Julie, are off to Gibraltar so he can take part in a conference honoring the discovery of the First Family, the skeletons of a human woman buried with her half-Neanderthal child. After he narrowly escapes death twice before he can take part in the program, however, Gideon becomes suspicious that other “accidental” deaths associated with the archeological dig may actually be murders. Gideon interacts with a small group of scholars who display amusing quirks while also showing enough professional vanity to make them suspects. When Gideon studies the bone evidence, he gets the job done without CSI
gimmicks and glitz, and Julie presses him for explanations if matters get too technical. In addition, Elkins offers readers a pleasant tour of the Rock and its neighborhood.