Old Bones
by Aaron Elkins
Open Road, 1987. 209 pages.
Review written June 18, 2026, from my own copy, purchased via Amazon.com
Starred Review
1988 Edgar Award Winner, Best Mystery Novel
When I told my friend Paul that I was going to Mont Saint-Michel on vacation and had signed up for a tour of the bay, he told me I needed to read this book. So I bought myself a copy, and since it is paperback, I brought it on my trip, and it’s the first book I read.
Right at the start, someone dies by drowning when he gets stuck in quicksand in the bay when the tide comes in. That’s not the main mystery of the book, though. His family manor was in the area, and he had ordered his family to come visit, because he had something important to tell them.
But while the family is gathered, some workmen had come to update the cellar – and found a skeleton. Good thing Gideon Oliver, the Skeleton Detective of America, was speaking at a law enforcement conference in nearby St. Malo.
Gideon isn’t actually in law enforcement himself. He’s got a PhD in the study of bones, and, well, he has a habit of getting mixed up in detective cases. The cover informs me this is the fourth novel about him. But since he’s in town, he gets called in to consult on the case, and notices plenty about the bones that escapes the attention of others.
And the skeleton seems to be from 1942, when some of the family members were in the Resistance, and some… weren’t. Tensions are still high 45 years later.
But as Gideon is looking at the bones, there’s a present-day murder, as well as attempted murder, and more people almost die in the bay of Mont Saint-Michel.
When I went on the tour, we learned how to escape quicksand. I asked the guide if the scenario of getting stuck in quicksand is realistic, and she confirmed that it can happen. I was glad I was with a guide! (It was SO cool!) The tide comes in very quickly, but we got out right after it went from ankle deep to thigh deep – and we were right near the island at that point.
Besides the amazing setting, this is a cozy mystery with fun characters and an interesting puzzle with historical roots. I may look up more books in this series.
Oh, one funny thing: The cover says this was the 1998 Edgar Winner, which didn’t match the publication date. So I looked it up, and the cover is wrong, it won in 1988.
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/old_bones.html
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