In this 13th book in the 'Aloysius Pendergast' series, the FBI Special Agent helps his trainee look into historic deaths. The book works fine as a standalone.
*****
Corrie Swanson was a troubled teen when she was taken under the wing of FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast. Twenty-year-old Corrie is now a student at New York's John Jay College For Criminal Justice, where she's studying to become a police officer.
Corrie hopes her sophomore thesis will win John Jay's prestigious Rosewell Prize, and she plans to visit Roaring Fork, Colorado to research her topic, which includes the forensic analysis of bones.
Corrie has learned that, in the late 1800s, silver miners in Roaring Fork experienced a bizarre spate of deaths.
In a letter to Pendergast, Corrie writes, "In May of 1876, a rogue grizzly bear killed and ate a miner at a remote claim in the mountains - and for the rest of the summer the bear totally terrorized the area....By the time [the Bear's] rampage stopped, eleven miners had been mauled and horribly eaten."
Roaring Fork is now a super-chic community for the very rich, and the cemetery containing the silver miners' remains is designated as the site of a new spa. Thus the bones of the grizzly bear's victims are being relocated, and are currently in plastic boxes in a storage shed.
Corrie plans to write her thesis about the bones - what they look like after a grizzly bear attack, etc. Corrie is certain this unusual topic will garner her the coveted Rosewell prize. So Corrie hustles off to Roaring Forks and asks the authorities for permission to view the miners' bones.
Things seem to be going smoothly until the 'grande dame' of Roaring Forks, a snobby woman called Mrs. Betty Brown Kermode, puts the kibosh on Corrie's project, claiming it would be disrespectful to the dead miners.
Corrie won't take no for an answer, however, and her subsequent actions land her in jail.
Luckily, Special Agent Pendergast rides in to the rescue, and Corrie is able to proceed with her thesis research.
This eventually leads to a startling discovery that will rock Roaring Forks - and severely reduce property values - if it comes to light. Thus Corrie is harassed, threatened, and worse.
Meanwhile, an arsonist is targeting the rich citizens of Roaring Forks, burning down their mansions with the residents inside. These horrendous crimes galvanize Special Agent Pendergast, who specializes in hunting down serial killers.
All this is tied up with a long-lost manuscript by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a never published Sherlock Holmes story called 'The Adventure of Aspern Hall' - about a grizzly bear that kills and consumes its victims. This tale was said to be inspired by Conan Doyle's chat with Oscar Wilde, who visited Roaring Forks in the late 1800s. (As a special treat, the Sherlock Holmes story is included in the book).
Additional characters add interest to the novel, including former Air Force Captain Stacy Bowdree - whose ancestor was a silver miner at Roaring Fork;
Ted Roman - a ski-bum/librarian who helps Corrie research Roaring Fork's historical archives;
Police Chief Stanley Morris - who needs to 'grow a pair' before he can help Pendergast with the arson investigation; and more.
All these threads leads to an exciting, action-packed climax that will have readers on the edge of their seats.
This is a very good thriller. recommended it to fans of the genre.
Rating: 4 stars
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