Findings-Mary Anna Evans

Findings
Mary Anna Evans
Poisoned Pen, May 28 2008
ISBN: 9781590584835

Archaeologist Faye Longchamp and her housemate Joe Wolf Mantooth are restoring a plantation house while excavating a site to include the Turkey Foot Hotel on Joyeuse Island, Florida, where her family once lived.. Faye uses the basement laboratory of Douglass Everett to catalogue and store her findings. So far the top item is a stunning emerald.

However, Douglass's wife finds her spouse dying as Faye's FINDINGS lie nearby shattered and her notes gone. Faye is stunned to hear this but not as much as the shocker that her beloved mentor died. Grieving, but a professional just like Douglass would expected of her, Faye investigates the history of the emerald and more important to her who murdered Douglass. When a second murder occurs and an attempt on Faye’s life fails, Joe Wolf vows to keep her safe while her Atlanta based legal friend Ross Donnelly asks her to relocate as his wife.

Faye Longchamp’s fourth (see RELICS, EFFIGIES, and ARTIFACTS.) archeological mystery is a terrific combining of Florida history with a whodunit and a bit of romance. The story line is fast-paced from the onset as Faye begins the arduous digging that she relishes. As always she makes the tale; in this case she must put aside her grief to honor her mentor as he would expect her to finish the excavation. Readers will appreciate her efforts as an amateur sleuth, a potential victim, and a professional archeologist who relishes the past but mourns her loss while taking care of business.

Harriet Klausner