"Complex, multi-layered mystery"

After suffering some trauma in South America, Diane Fallon accepts the job of director of the River Trial museum in Georgia. She was also forced to house a forensic lab in the museum and be in charge of it otherwise the powers that be would tax her museum out of existence. To her surprise, Diane likes both jobs.

One night she assists the sheriff with three mummified bodies' dressed alike hanging from ropes tied to trees. The fingers are cut off so there is no immediate way of identifying them. A fourth rope was found tied to a tree but no body was attached to it. Forestry students Chris Edwards and Steve Mayberry found the bodies and shortly thereafter Chris was murdered and Steve was nowhere to be found. Someone is calling Diane, and sending her e-mails and the police think it might be the killer. Diane can't get him to talk to her but he does break into her apartment and smashes her car with her inside of it. The killer is looking for something that Diane has and he is willing to kill her to get it.

Readers will find Beverly Connor a dynamic and dramatic writer on par with Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs so it easy to predict that Ms. Connor is a sure shot superstar because she appeals to a wide range of mystery and thriller fans. The protagonist is vulnerable after losing her daughter in South America but she has the strength and resiliency to make a new life for herself that readers will admire her for. The mystery is complex, multi-layered and impossible to solve which makes it a great reading experience.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted August 28, 2004

Summary

In Beverly Connor's absorbing series, the bones of the dead reveal the secrets of the living. Now Connor takes her ingenious heroine—forensic anthropologist Diane Fallon—on a chilling excavation of a crime with harrowing implications...

In the shadow of Diane Fallon's new forensic lab in Georgia, a land survey crew has discovered three bodies hanging in an isolated patch of woods. The sensational case has aroused the interest of the media, unnerved the locals—and inspired a gruesome game between the killer and Diane. It begins with taunting e-mails and chilling phone calls. Where it leads is a personal investigation as each bizarre clue brings Diane closer to danger.