Customer Reviews

Ashes and Bones (An Emma Fielding Mysteries, No. 6)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a fan of this series I was disappointed in this latest work, but it may be a question of unmet expectations. Usually the main character, Emma Fielding (an archeologist) solves a mystery based on work being done at some site, and the stories have been interestingly augmented by the author's knowledge of the discipline. This addition to the series is a real departure from that format. There's almost none of the archeology, and the plot is basically "I'm not paranoid, there really is someone out to kill me." And, even though I'd read the earlier works, I could not recall why the villain was supposedly after the main character anyway; the author could have done more to either fill in or remind readers of that part of the story line. The references are there, but I at least kept wondering about the motivation for such (apparent) hatred. I also found the description of the academic setting weak, but then I'm a tenured college professor, so it may just be me. I kept being surprised that a dean of something or other didn't show up when certain events transpired at the college, and I REALLY wondered how Emma was able to miss all those classes!!! I hope the next book, now that Nemesis has been laid to rest, will be closer to the earlier stories. It's a good read overall; I think it was just a let down because it was not what I expected based on the earlier works.

I'll keep this simple and short. If you enjoy mysteries that have no mystery, suspense, character development, creative storyline, etcetera - this book is for you. I'm serious. It reeks of an endeavor the author was goaded into by some teaching colleague that thought she had some talent. The author tries to be witty and is overly wordy in the process.

I bought this book thinking the description, title, and cover looked interesting, particularly for this time of year. Don't make the same mistake!

I agree with the other reviews that this is the weakest of the series. Emma's consistent whining about her life and continual questioning of her motivations, career, marriage, relationships (which are better than most of us have) reaches peak annoyance level in this novel.

In January, Caldwell College archeology professor Emma Fielding received a post card with the word "soon" written on it. She assumes it is from Tony Markham, who tried to kill her and did murder her best friend. The police say that the fingerprint doesn't match his but when tTony escaped in a boat, his body was never found. While on vacation in Hawaii, she receives an anonymous gift of Lilies of the Valley, a flower that has special significance to Tony.

Her husband Brian calms her down feeling this is just a coincidence but when they are at the airport, Emma Believes she spots Tony but the man disappears before Brian can see him. Back home, a series of pranks on those close to Emma soon escalates into a mugging, a bullet hitting her martial arts teacher and the death of a security guard. This brings Emma to the brink of madness; only the threat to Brian brings her back from the abyss.

Even though all authority figures and Brian believe Tony is dead, the audience has doubts because the heroine is so sure he is the culprit. This is a predator vs. prey thriller but it is up to the audience to decide who is who. As each prank escalates another notch of violence the reader will wonder if Emma will be the last victim. Dana Cameron has written a pulse pounding, adrenaline jumping work that will appeal to sub-genre fans.

Harriet Klausner

I enjoyed all her other books and was looking forward to this one. What a disappointment. If you are reading this series because you like the archaeological aspects, skip this one there aren't any.

Dana Cameron's ASHES AND BONES steps away from field research to have Emma Fielding confront a man who should be dead.
Tony Markham took the gold artifacts and sailed off into a hurricane. Everyone believes him dead, but he is haunting Emma's waking hours. Just when Emma has everything she has worked for all of her adult life a nightmare become real turning her hard won achievements into ashes.
No one will believe her until things start getting rough. Plenty of tension building, but it borders on hysteria.
A good read for fans of the series.
Nash Black, author of WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS.

I love this author and have every one of her books. Started when she first published. She writes in the first person and uses only one or two bad words per book. Any violence is NOT descriptive and there is no sex descriptions. I think this book was the first one to even refer to sex. I look forward to many more.

I like the character Emma Fielding and her exploits. I love archaeology anyway and adding a little mystery and a good team of workers with her exploits makes for a good read and this one is just as exciting and interesting as her other five. I like how she brings the archaeology finds and explains them at the times of the finds so you can follow her through out the book, you never get lost of the actual theme of the book along with all the unusal happenings that find her. Very good reading.

I have read, and enjoyed, all of the Emma Fielding books. One of my favorite aspects of the series is that, along with a great mystery, Cameron gives the reader the full breadth of the rewards and challenges faced by a working archaeologist. Not only does the reader get to see what it's really like in the field, they get to see all of the hurdles (academic office politics, etc.) that an archaeologist has to leap to get to point of being able to put trowel to soil. I don't see the fact that there's no field work in the story as a miss.

Emma is a smart, competent, confident, career oriented heroine. Emma knows what she wants and she goes after it. Emma is emotionally mature enough to form and keep important relationships. So, what happens when all of that is shaken to the core? You get this taut, impeccably paced, rollercoaster ride of a novel. Cameron has turned the suspense up to eleven in this somewhat darker story. It is a bit different than the previous Emma books, but in a very good way. I hope Cameron continues to write stories in this vein.