Dead Men's Hearts - Aaron Elkins

   1994; 229 pages.  Book 8 (out of 18) in the “Gideon Oliver Mysteries” series.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres : International Mystery & Crime; Egypt; Whodunit; Forensic Anthropology.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

 

    Gideon Oliver is going to be in a movie!!

 

    Well, kinda.  It would be more accurate to call it a documentary, all about ancient Egypt, and Gideon will be just one of several hand-picked “experts” speaking briefly on something very old and very archaeological.  Since Gideon is nicknamed “the Skeleton Detective”, you can pretty much figure what his relic is going to be.

 

    But hey, it does come with a perk – an all-expenses-paid weeklong trip up and down the Nile, and his wife Julie gets to come along for free as well.

 

    So kick back and enjoy things, Gideon.  All you need to do is act like you’re an expert and memorize your lines.  What are the odds that you’ll actually need to use the skills of your profession – a forensic anthropologist – for anything?

 

What’s To Like...

    I liked the idea of making the protagonist a forensic anthropologist.  It means there will be emphasis on both medical science (“forensic”) and history/archaeology (“anthropology”).  The storyline does not disappoint in this regard, it was fun to see Gideon applying the scientific method in order when analyzing both recent and ancient skeletons.

 

    The main murder-mystery case for Gideon to solve doesn’t occur until around 40%-Kindle, and doesn’t even involve a skeleton, but there are several relics and miscellaneous bones that seem to jump from one place to another on their own volition.

 

    I appreciated that Aaron Elkins presents a balanced view of both modern-day and ancient Egypt.  Gideon – and the reader – learn the nuances of the Arab words “Inshallah” (Allah willing) and “Bukhra” (similar to the Spanish word ‘manana’, which technically means ‘tomorrow’ but often really implies ‘soon’, ‘whenever’, or even ’you may as well just forget about it’).  There was a nice feel to the leisurely cruise up the Nile, and I learned that “Cleopatras” are a common brand of Egyptian cigarettes, also how the “Law of Interconnected Monkey Business” can help you solve perplexing mysteries.

 

    It was enlightening to watch how much Gideon could determine merely by a careful study of a set of bones. Case in point: he could look at a skeleton and deduce that a 4400-year-old skeleton belonged to someone who was a scribe when he was alive.  It was very “Sherlock Holmesian”, although I also thought it was neat that, unlike Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective, Gideon occasionally would come to embarrassingly wrong conclusions.

 

    The ending is okay, but felt a bit arbitrary.  Gideon realizes that he has no conclusive evidence of the perpetrator’s guilt, although the fact that one of the suspects is suddenly trying very hard to kill him is certainly indicative of guilt.  This makes for an exciting climax, but it also means that you (and Gideon) probably won’t solve the case before the bullets start whizzing by.  So just sit back, go sleuthing along with Gideon, and enjoy the adventure and the wonders of Egypt.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Fusty (adj.) : old-fashioned in attitude or style.

 

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.2*/5, based on 576 ratings and 58 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.97*/5, based on 1,460 ratings and 58 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “Have you ever heard of the Deir el-Bahri cache?”

    She sighed.  “Gideon, dear, have I ever pointed out to you that you have a slightly annoying habit of starting your stories by asking me if I’ve heard of something that hardly anybody has ever heard of?  The Deir el-Bahri cache, the Menshiya, the Neiman-Marcus fragment—”

    “Many times,” he said, flopping into one of the beige armchairs, putting his feet up on the ottoman, and stretching comfortably out on his lower spine.  “It’s a pedagogical stratagem, well known to ensure listener participation in the communication process.”  (loc. 1153)

 

    Gideon winced.  Tempers were already simmering and it was just the first hour of the first morning of taping.  Making a movie, a retired Port Angeles neighbor who had worked in Hollywood had once told him, was like making sausage.  The finished product might be terrific, but you didn’t necessarily want to watch the process.  (loc. 1238)

 

Kindle Details…

    Dead Men’s Hearts sells for $6.99 right now at Amazon.  The other six books in the series cost anywhere from $1.99 to $8.99.  There are also a pair of bundles from this series, one runs $14.99 (three books); the other runs $16.99 (four books).

 

“Did you know that if you keep yogurt in a pyramid-shaped carton it just about never spoils?”  (loc. 43)

    There’s not much to grouse about in Dead Men’s Hearts.  Those who are looking for a cozy mystery will be happy to know there’s only a small amount of cussing (I counted 12 instances in the first 20% of the book), and since I’m a pedantic proofreader, I liked that I noted only one typo: “photo graph” as two words instead of one.

 

    Dead Men’s Hearts was my introduction to Aaron Elkins’ Gideon Oliver mysteries.  I don’t know if it’s one of the best books, or one of the weakest ones in the series.  The pacing felt good, the characters were well-developed, but for me the mystery itself seemed a bit humdrum.  Still, there is much to like here: plenty of wit, mystery, history, archaeology, forensic science, and Egyptology.  I plan to read more books from the series.

 

    8 Stars.  There are two more Gideon Oliver e-books sitting on my Kindle, waiting for my attention: Icy Clutches and Murder in the Queen’s Armes.  Neither one of those titles sound like they are set in Egypt, so I'm guessing Aaron Elkins likes to have Gideon travel all over the place.