The Books of August

In Dying on the Vine, Forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver travels to Tuscany with his wife, and are joined on their trip by his colleague John Lau and his wife. Gideon is scheduled to present lectures to local law enforcement but becomes involved in the investigation of the death of patriarch Pietro Cubbiddu and his wife Nola, owner of the winery at Villa Antica, where Gideon and his party are to be guests. The police believe that Pietro killed his wife and then committed suicide, but the skeletons tell a different story. A solid mystery with lots of local color and descriptions of food and wine.

 


Death in Four Courses by Lucy Burdette
Swan for the Money by Donna Andrews
Get Well Soon: history's worst plagues and the heroes who fought them by Jennifer Wright
The Dog  went over the Mountain: travels with Albie: an American journey by Peter Zheutlin
Rough Magic: riding the world's lonliest horse race by Lara Prior-Palmer
Die, Die Birdie by J.R. Ripley
Stork Raving Mad by Donna Andrews
Deadly Chapel by N.C. Lewis
Last Shot by Mike Faricy
As Husbands Go by Susan Isaacs
Best American Travel Writing 2019 edited by A. Fuller
Old Bones by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Some Like it Hawk by Donna Andrews
Old Bones by Aaron Elkins
Phi Beta Murder by C.S. Challinor
Dying on the Vine by Aaron Elkins
The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley

The Fellowship of Fear by Aaron Elkins

In ten words or less: Physical anthropologist Gideon Oliver gets caught in international intrigue.

Review: Gideon Oliver, a new widower, accepts a position as a visiting professor for the U.S. Overseas College. It's his first time visiting Eaurope, and he's puzzled by the strange events that happen to him. He's mugged, his hotel room is burgled--but only his socks are taken--and he swears he is being followed.
When he is able to help identify a victim from only a few charred bones and some teeth, local authorities are skeptical of his claims that he has no knowledge of the mysterious events surrounding him, and attempt to recruit him as an agent.

Why bother? This first Gideon Oliver adventure, written in 1982, was the precursor to all the forensic anthropologist sleuths. Author Aaron Elkins is an anthropologist, and presents the clues, and the deductions, in a way that makes the reader say "Wow!"