Review: One Grave Too Many

Protagonist Diane Fallon, internationally recognized and respected expert, forensic anthropology.

Dr. Fallon has spent too many years and too much, emotionally, with a humanitarian team excavating mass human graves dug by too many ugly people in too many ugly dictatorships, compounded by a deep and painful personal sorrow. After a period of healing, she has taken over as director of RiverTrail (not a typo) Museum of Natural History outside Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Fallon doesn't want to return to her field of forensic anthropology, but a former lover forces her to rethink that decision with a seemingly random occurance of a human clavicle. With tracking that mystery and the attempts by some members of her board of directors to sabotage day-to-day operations, Diane's days and nights are anything but restful.

- The character development was too drawn out in the book; should have been there much earlier. As a matter of fact, I was feeling more than a bit bereft at the end.

- The dialogue (and using dialogue to advance the plot/create threat, emotion, etc) was bland and/or stilted.

- BOY HOWDY!!! This book needed some really major, heavy, serious, big time, copy editing! I don't know how to say this, but what idiot allowed this book to hit the streets with such an incredible abuse of verb tense? By the last half of the book, that particular problem was turning into a swarm of black flies on a stormy day in northern Michigan. At least, it was for me.

In spite of my complaints, I actually did like the book, but I'm not sure that I could survive another round of those verbs. I've not read any of the Lindsey Chamberlain, forensic archeologist (is that correct?), series. Are any of my issues apparent in those books?

Because of the above points, I have to say that this is an iffy author for me. She's got good plot development, but not the skills at this time to support that.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Pam Jacoby - RAM

Book Review: One Grave Too Many