Bright Hair about the Bone

I think it is very funny. Several reviewers who know this writer well have said that this is her worst book. Not a bad book, just not as good as her others. This is the first book that I've read from this author. I hope that the other reviewers are right because I will be in for a treat. I LOVED this book. I liked the character. I'm a history buff and for me the late 20s is a historical era. I wasn't born yet. But I've known a lot of people for whom it wasn't a historical era, and everything felt right. There might have been mistakes, but I didn't see them. I liked the story too. Including the big what if in the end chapters. Because history would have been quite different if the book had ended differently. And I liked the fact that I didn't know who to like and who not to like until the book was finished. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.

This is the first of the Series about archeologist Latitia Talbot, although I read the second one first. The style is clear and yet full of information about the subject, the time and location (in this case, it's Burgundy). The heroine is intelligent and brave, and all the characters are well drawn out. This mystery series is smart, interesting and well written.

In 1926 in the village of Fontigny-Saint-Reine, Burgundy, someone stabs Daniel Thorndon while he was researching artifacts at the private library of Edmond d'Aubec. Before Thorndon dies he sends postcard to his goddaughter Leticia "Letty": Talbot; the message is in a code they made up years ago when she was a child. A stunned Letty, accompanied by Army chaplain William Gunning, travels to France to learn who killed her godfather and why. To achieve her objective, Letty goes undercover obtaining work with the archeological dig led by Dr. Charles Paradee. However, instead of antiquity or even Victorian, they find the modern day corpse of a stable boy who worked at d'Aubec's nearby chateau. Letty persuades Edmond to allow her to look at Daniel's work on ancient religious manuscripts, which brings her to the attention of a killer. With Joe Sandilands taking a well deserved breather (see RAGTIME IN SIMLA), independent Letty Talbot makes her second star appearance (see THE TOMB OF ZEUS) in a terrific historical whodunit. The story line is fast-paced from the moment that a determined Letty decides to investigate the murder of her godfather. Although the religious angle has been overdone a zillion times, fans will toast with fine French wine this fun 1920s amateur sleuth reminiscent of Carola Dunn's married Daisy Dalrymple. Harriet Klausner