Uneasy Relations

This is really good Aaron Elkins: scary bits, varied personalities and suspects, a good popular summary of Neanderthal/Cro-Magnon fate, several layers of science mystery that bite, and convincing deductions. Like several of his novels this one has a claustrophobic feel. The suspects are introduced early, they are pretty much the only characters, and they are always hanging around in one grouping or another. No one slinking in the shadows, barely glimpsed; no total red herrings. Since he usually gives a vital clue early in the story, I thought I had this figured, but he has added so many twists as the story winds its way up and down The Rock, he fooled me. Moreover, that clue I spotted, he didn't even use it! Nice job! It's nice to see Elkins write a mystery around the raging controversies over the human status of antediluvian Neanderthal Man, and make a few acid remarks. Once again Gideon Oliver attends a conference of experts who provide a plethora of suspects--once they turn to violence over their cherished theories and things begin to go bad. But why is Oliver the target, when the bones of contention are not "his"? At the center are the uneasy relations between Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon "Men" 25,000 years ago, and in more or less real science. Enemies, competitors, friends, or lovers? Elkins mixes in an amazing number of story lines, each of them convincingly rendered down to their individual misdirections. Each person seems to have a long- buried personal grudge against another--they're archaeologists, after all. Each has a different cherished paleo-anthropological theory about Neanderthal to push to the fore. And most of them are legitimate theories, too, more or less (ah, but WHICH is less?). What fun! We gradually discover that the grudges, and arguments, and scientific errors range back over decades, even to Piltdown Man, the fraudulent skull exposed in the 1950s. All of them take place against the nature of Neanderthal remains found on Gibraltar, whose now-doddering discoverer is ostensibly being celebrated in the reunion. The plot arises naturally from the archaeological setting of the finds and of the conference, as described by Elkins. The Rock of Gibraltar, its buildings, and food are logically and superbly worked into the story. Everything was so convincing I hated to put the book down. Of course, Elkins helps that along with his habit of occasionally including chapter endings such as, "He couldn't have been more wrong." One gripe: why does Elkins put his acknowledgements and sources right at the front of the book? They can spoil the story, or its solution! At the back is better. There he could even add some Suggested Readings!

Before the last Neanderthal left the planet, he co-existed with his cousin Homo sapiens: did they get along, or fight? When a spectacular archaeological find excites a professor, all seems enlightening and amazing - until a series of accidental deaths casts a shadow over the discovery and involves one Gideon, who begins to piece together clues of a bigger picture than even the murders themselves. Any interested in exciting, complex murder mysteries - and libraries catering to them - will love UNEASY RELATIONS.

Physical anthropologist and homicide solver Gideon Oliver and his wife are attending the annual International Paleoanthropological Society Conference held in Gibraltar. Oliver, known as the Skelton Detective, is going to celebrate the discovery of the First family, a Homo sapiens mother holding her hybrid Neanderthal son. This find proved that the two humanoid species interacted, mated and had offspring. Although he never worked at the site, Oliver examined the bones of the Gibraltar woman and her son. While on the Rock, only luck saves him from being killed. He thinks someone deliberately pushed him, but is not fully sure if it happened or it was his imagination.. When he gets set to lecture, only the warning of a fellow scientist keeps him from being electrocuted. He thinks the attempts on his life are linked to a story planted by his editor in the newspaper about a revelation he will make. When it is discovered another group member Sheila Chin was not killed in a cave in but murdered also, Oliver concludes someone working the site is willing to commit two years ago but was murdered Oliver decides to start his investigation. In some ways Oliver will remind forensic fans of Scarpetta as he uses the latest scientific techniques and some intuition to solve homicides. In this tale, Aaron Elkins makes it easy for the lay reader to understand the science behind physical anthropology and the pressure the scholars are under to discover something. The whodunit is entertaining as the suspects are professionally gathered from around the world sharing the same motive and opportunity. Fans will appreciate the Bone Detective as he searches amidst UNEASY RELATIONS to find a killer. Harriet Klausner

It's becoming a tradition. Every year Aaron Elkins publishes a new Gideon Oliver mystery. Every year I review it, give it four or five stars, and point out that Elkins is the best writer of classical mysteries working today. Well, here we go again. _Uneasy Relations_ is a beautifully-crafted, intelligent, witty, and fascinating mystery in the tradition of Doyle, Christie, Sayers, and Stout. It's practically a textbook example. Last year's _Little Tiny Teeth_, while also excellent, incorporated some thriller elements. _Uneasy Relations_ plays it straight: detective, body, limited circle of suspects, clues, deductions, revelation. In other words, bliss. That is, unless you're looking for gunshots and car chases and beatings, in which case, move along; there's nothing to see here. Elkins keeps the narrative moving, giving nothing away before its time, always keeping his hero in the thick of things, constantly dangling little revelations in front of the reader. This is a good book in which to match wits with the detective. Gideon's forensic knowledge is well-displayed, and it's important to the plot, but logic and attention to detail are no less so. It's talky, sure, but that's traditional. And it's *good* talk, both funny and fascinating. If Gideon were real, I'd want to take a course from him--not to mention reading his book. (Plus I'd go mano-a-mano with him in Trivial Pursuit.) The group of suspects is just the right size, and Elkins's usual light-but-deft characterizations made it easy for me to remember them all. In fact, the only nit I have to pick is that I wish _Uneasy Relations_ had been longer. A red herring or two ... a false solution ... maybe a timetable, it's hard to go wrong with an elaborate timetable ... In other words, my beef is really that Aaron Elkins doesn't write enough. I picked up _Uneasy Relations_ on Friday evening and was done two hours later. Having to wait a year for the next one is hard on a man.