Old Bones: A Gideon Oliver Mystery [Mass Market Paperback]

Aaron Elkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1988

When an old skeleton is found beneath the floor of the du Rocher estate, American "skeleton detective" Dr. Gideon Oliver is called in to uncover the secrets behind the Old Bones. Winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Mystery of 1987.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In the flood tides off Mont St. Michel, revered Resistance-hero Guillaume du Rocher is drowned. Already assembled at the Rocher estate to deal with family business, members of the Rocher clan instead read his will. The next day a partial skeleton is found in the cellar and Gideon Oliver, a physical anthropologist, is called to examine the bones. They are those of a young man who died 50 years prior and Gideon believes the deceased was tied to the Resistance movement. When Gideon is threatened, and Claude, Rocher's principal heir, is poisoned, Gideon begins to unravel a web of espionage, family deceit and murder, whose dramatic resolution lies in the secret held by the old bones. This taut thriller won the 1988 Edgar Award for best mystery novel.

From Publishers Weekly

When revered Resistance-hero Guillaume du Rocher drowns in a rushing flood tide off Mont St. Michel, members of the familysummoned by Guillaume on undisclosed urgent businessare already assembled at the domaine du Rocher, where, instead, they hear his will. The next day in the basement, a partial skeleton is uncovered, and Gideon Oliver, American physical anthropologist known as the "Skeleton Detective," is called from his lectures at an international forensics conference to examine the bones. Gideon confirms the remains, determines that they are those of a young man dead almost 50 years, suggesting a connection to local Resistance actions, including one in which Guillaume's brother Alain was executed after Claude Fougeray, a du Rocher cousin and now Guillaume's principal heir, collaborated with the enemy. While Gideon gleans more and more information from the skeleton, Claude is poisoned and Gideon himself is threatened. An intricate plotmore substantial than it promises initiallyis weighed down by a school of weak red herrings, by too much multisyllabic information about bone structure and by characters more caricatured than lifelike. Elkins (The Dark Place and Fellowship of Fear), is better on the muck and sand below the abbey where the action, especially a thrilling final scene, gallops along as fast and compelling as the tide itself.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Mysterious Press (October 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0445406879
• ISBN-13: 978-0445406872
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,795,364 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a former anthropologist who has been writing mysteries and thrillers since 1982, having won an Edgar for Old Bones, as well as a subsequent Agatha (with my wife Charlotte), and a Nero Wolfe Award. My major continuing series features forensic anthropologist-detective Gideon Oliver, "the Skeleton Detective."

Lately, I've seen myself referred to as "the father of the modern forensic mystery," and, by gosh, I think I am! Before "Fellowship of Fear," the first Gideon Oliver, published in 1982, you'd have to go back 70 years and more to Austin Freeman and his Dr. Thorndyke series. Between the two good doctors (Thorndyke and Oliver), there was only Jack Klugman's "Quincy," so far as I know, and he was a TV character.

The Gideon Oliver books have been (roughly) translated into a major ABC-TV series and have been selections of the Book-of-the-Month Club, the Literary Guild, and the Readers Digest Condensed Mystery Series. My work has been published in a dozen languages. Charlotte and I live on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, our marriage having survived (more or less intact) our collaboration on novels and short stories.

Although I've been a full-time writer for some time now, I also remain active in real-life forensics by serving as the forensic anthropologist on the Olympic Peninsula Cold Case Task Force.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A little cliched at times, but overall solid, June 20, 2002

By 

Mark S. Winger (Wood Dale, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Old Bones: A Gideon Oliver Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is one of the rarities these days. A book categorized as a mystery, that actually is. "Old Bones", was an enjoyable read that read quickly, only taking a few days of moderate reading. Sure the gathering of a family with strained relationships, decades after some troubling event and all sharing some family secret, is a common theme in mysteries, but it works here, just as it has in so many other novels. What makes this book most intriguing is the setting of Mont St. Michel and you'll find yourself caught up in the mystique. While the mystery isn't that complicated, nor the solution that shocking, there are definite elements of the story that can't help but make you appreciate the book. This book sold me enough on reading another Aaron Elkins book down the road.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ingeniously crafted mystery!, February 27, 2006

By 

M. C. T. Henry Jr. "henryct" (Baltimore, MD United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Old Bones (A Gideon Oliver Mystery) (Paperback)

One of the best mysteries I've ever read. It reminded me about what I loved about Sherlock Holmes stories. First and foremost, Elkins' writing is very fluid and descriptive. This story is succinct and poignant without the frills of other writers trying to show how wonderfully they can write. A close second, is Elkins' protagonist, Gideon Oliver, an anthropologist with a talent for his analysis of skeletons. There are many layers to this mystery and they come together very nicely. Great ending! Powerful and with a twist!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elkins has a way with bones!, February 4, 2001

By 

Billy J. Hobbs "Bill Hobbs" (Tyler, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Old Bones: A Gideon Oliver Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

And the tide comes rushing in. Not your usual tide, however, but the one that graces the shores of Brittany/Normandy where Oliver Gideon, world famous "Doctor Bones" is giving one of his lectures. This tide takes the life of Guillaume du Rocher, gentried man and local hero of the Resistance movement during the war. Gideon is called in when, the next day, skeletal remains are discovered in the du Rocher celler (readers know that Gideon's specialty is unveiling the secrets of the bones; he is to skeletons what Kay Scarpetta is to pathology!). This particular skeleton, he determines, is that of a young man who had died some 50 years earlier, believed to have been a member of the Resistance.

In addition, the scorched remnants of a Nazi officer murdered in 1942 serve to complicate the matter. This indeed is a conundrum for the "skeleton detective." What follows, too, is the lurking suspicion--nay, even knowledge--of collaboration (dreaded word to the Frnech!) during the Nazi occupation! Oliver is up to the challenge, however, as he methodically, painstakingly, scientifically unravels the story. He understands full well that some stories are better remained buried!

What is unearthed here, in particular detail but in a fascinating manner, starts a chain reaction: Gideon hmself is threatened and the principal heir to the du Rocher estate is poisoned Of course, owing to its setting, World War II espionage, intrigue, deceit, and, yes,

murder are principle ingredients.

Elkins is quite good at pacing the suspense, of which there is plenty. Certainly, his detective credentials seem in order (Gideon Oliver appears in a series of books). "Old Bones" won the l987 Edgar Award as the best mystery of the year, and it is no wonder. ([e-mail])