The "shrewd, witty and self-deprecating forensic anthropologist"
travels to Tahiti to sniff out crime at a coffee plantation (Publishers
Weekly).
The dead man is the manager of Tahiti's Paradise Coffee Plantation,
producer of the most expensive coffee bean in the world, the winey,
luscious Blue Devil. Nothing tangible points to foul play behind his
fall from a cliff, but FBI agent John Lau, a relative of the
coffee-growing family, has his suspicions. What he needs is evidence,
and who better to provide it than his friend, anthropologist Gideon
Oliver, the Skeleton Detective? Gideon is willing to help, but
surprisingly--and suspiciously--both the police and the other family
members refuse to okay an exhumation order. As a result, Gideon, to his
surprise and against his better judgment, finds himself sneaking into a
graveyard under cover of night with John, a flashlight, and a
shovel--not exactly up to the professional standards of the world's most
famous forensic anthropologist, but necessary under the circumstances.
Gideon prefers his bones ancient, dry, and dusty, but the body he must
examine had lain in the tropical sun for a week before it was found and
then buried native-style--shallow, with no casket--so it is not exactly
his . . . well, cup of tea. But it is not the state of the remains that
bothers him the most, it is the deeper human ugliness that his
examination uncovers: subtle clues that do indeed point to foul play, to
mistaken identity, and to a murderous conspiracy that may have
percolated through the family for decades--and brewed a taste for
murder.
Twenty Blue Devils is the 9th book in the Gideon Oliver Mysteries, but
you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
