Skeleton Crew: A Lindsay Chamberlain Novel (Lindsay Chamberlain Mysteries) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "WHEN I SAW the Estrella de Espana wafting on the water beside the dock, I almost turned to go back to the House of Trade..." (more)
Key Phrases: silver galleon, dysbaric osteonecrosis, biology people, Eva Jones, Hardy Denton, Coast Guard (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

". . .an intriguing read." -- Athens Magazine, August 2000

I'm eager for the next adventure. -- The State, November 7, 1999

If you're a mystery fan you'll want to look for this one. -- Brazosport Facts, January 9, 2000

Mrs. Connor combines smart people, fun people, and dangerous people in a novel hard to put down. -- The Dallas Morning News, November 20, 1999

Product Description

Lindsay Chamberlain is at it again and this may well her toughest assigment yet: uncover sunken Spanish galleon before the cofferdam subsides into the ocean and solve several murders while maintaining her relationship with her beau and fighting off theives. "The Angel of Death," as she is "respectfully" referred to, is up to the challenge.

"Skeleton Crew" is the fourth installment of the lauded Lindsay Chamberlain Mystery Series. These hardcover mysteries detail the work of fictional archaeologist Lindsay Chamberlain; however, Beverly Connor writes with an exactness and authority that makes her mysteries come alive.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 351 pages
• Publisher: Cumberland House Publishing (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581820429
• ISBN-13: 978-1581820423
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #496,962 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 4 in The Lindsay Chamberlain Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't Wait For Another Installment!, July 24, 2000

By	Michael Butts "as i see it" (Martinsburg, WV United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For years I searched for Ms. Connor's books. No book store seemed to stock them! I can't understand why? I finally got wired and found them. This is one of the best mystery series I've read. It was well worth the wait. This last installment is the best one. The way that Ms. Connor weaves the past and present together for a triple mystery is great. She ties up all the stories together very neat and nice. Lindsey is a great hero, very human. Her love life is always interesting, Ms. Connor gives you the pay off in this one that you hoped for in another book. Very nicely done, author's usually don't make you wait for the romance pay off.

I would suggest that you start at the beginning of this series. Ms. Connor does tie each book to the next and her development of one character may be in another book. But it is there, plus it is fun to watch an author develop over each book.

Now a word to the publisher, GET BEVERLY CONNOR'S BOOKS OUT TO THE PUBLIC! She is a great read and could made you a lot of money if people knew about her.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Connor's Best, March 26, 2001

By	tertius3 (MI United States) - See all my reviews

Skeleton Crew, Connor's fourth volume, is the best Lindsay Chamberlain forensics story yet. It benefits in focus by occurring on a small island 5 miles off the Georgia coast, where University of Georgia Athens has a luxurious archaeological project underway to raise a sunken Spanish supply galleon--in dangerous competition with lurking privateers who think it was a homeward bound treasure ship instead. The archaeology of the dig is realistic, with normal procedures and lab techniques actually contributing clues to the modern mystery of suspicious attacks, disappearances, or death. A set of maps helps make the excavation, as well as the adventure, intelligible. Lindsay's fascinating specialized contributions on bone analysis (given with a light touch) actually are focused on the intriguing parallel story of a newly discovered journal written by one of the sailors actually on that ill-fated galleon. That unusual old account, too, has its mysteries, ones gradually resolved during its translation while also becoming entwined with the solution to the modern puzzle. This plotting of two stories, one ancient one modern, each informing the other, is a happy device to animate dry archaeological detail that Connors first used in vol. 2, the memorable Questionable Remains, to equally great effect. And you get two stories for the price of one!

Still lighter in touch than Cornwell's Dr. Scarpetta, Connor's skeleton detective has a number of serious adventures, a spectacular hurricane danger, and many osteological discoveries recreating the lives of the departed. These are stories of character and Southern customs, as well as leisurely unfolding mysteries. It is wonderful to see Connors becoming a skilled writer. Her villains are still a bit obvious, but then again they are often red herrings! I am also so glad Lindsay has dropped her fading beau of the first three novels, Derrick. Their relationship was becoming an annoying distraction, a romance cliche, dysfunctional, and detracting from the image of Lindsay as an intelligent independent woman. Instead we now find Lindsay growing a mature relationship with a Native American antagonist from a previous book, and it is a real contribution to the development of the plot and our interest in these characters. In addition, Lindsay has a new boss--hopefully to become a series character--who adds his slightly devious and moneyed machinations to help speed the plot along. All in all these books are ever more fascinating reading.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent mystery and a good story, October 15, 1999

By A Customer

In 1558, a storm off the coast of colonial Georgia sinks the Estrella de Espana of the Spanish Galleon. One individual survived the shipwreck. His diary has led to a modern day archeological excavation on the ocean floor. Georgia University sponsors the underwater dig led by Professor Francisco Lewis, chair of the schools Anthropology and Archeology Department.

Archeologist Dr. Lindsay "Angel of Death" Chamberlain specializes in bones found at sites. Soon after joining the team, she learns that they search for a second Spanish vessel that allegedly was loaded with treasures and reportedly sunk near the Estrella. Word leaks out about the sunken treasure, which leads to a rash of pirates, fortune hunters, tourists, and other unsavory types invading the area. The Estrella crew must watch their backs as someone wants the professionals removed anyway possible. Lindsay, who has experience in resolving criminal cases, begins to sleuth not realizing that she will soon move to the top of the list for eradication.

SKELETON CREW is one of the best amateur sleuth tales of the year. Observing Lindsay piece together what occurred on the Estrella from the diary's extracts is a fascinating glimpse at modern day solving of historical mysteries. Beverly Connor creatively alternates between the sixteenth century and the present era. That difficult technique succeeds as each exciting subplot supplements the other and ultimately adds leagues to the superb story line. The "Chamberlain" mysteries are all entertaining, but this one is the best.

Harriet Klausner