Rating: 3 stars
Dr. Diane Fallow had just left the mountain top home of Roy and Ozella Barres after picking up Indian artifacts to be displayed at the museum for which she works. A big storm was coming and Roy Barres was on his third rendition of the same story regarding the arrowheads when it was determined Diane would need to leave immediately before the storm hit full force.
Slowly picking her way down the rut-infested mountain, the downpour was making it even more difficult to find the road. Once down she found a landmark, the old Massey house, and managed to relax—just before a tree fell on the hood of her SUV. On impact Diane watched in shock as a skeleton emerged from the hollow trunk, its skull rolling onto the hood and the hand smashing against her windshield. Diane was suddenly startled by Slick Massey asking if she was ok. Still a bit shaken, she said she was and mentioned the skeleton. When Slick said there was no skeleton and grabbed Diane’s arm, she managed to pull away and run off into the forest.
Trying to flee the dogs that Slick released on her, Diane ran into yet another stranger claiming to be taking photographs. At night. In the pouring rain. The stranger gave Diane a knife and his raingear while he went to call for help. Diane managed to make her way back to the Barres’ house, only to find that they’d been murdered.
Now Diane needs to put a name to the skull, but with nothing to go on and an angry Sheriff who warned her to stay away from his town and the investigation, she’s going to have to be a bit more creative.
It’s easy to see why Connor is compared to Kathy Reich and Patricia Cromwell, their writing it very similar as are their stories; which, I guess, isn’t exactly a bad thing for Connor. However, I find Diane Fallow a bit more accessible and interesting than Reich’s Temperance Brennan. Although this is the eighth book in the series, it served as my introduction and has me looking forward to the ninth.
-------------------
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Signet; Original edition (April 6, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-0451229601