Twenty Blue Devils

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Amazon.com ReviewBrew up a pot of your favorite gourmet java and enjoy the latest adventure of forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver, who this time around exercises his wits on a coffee plantation in Tahiti. Aaron Elkins has a sharp, cool eye for detail; his descriptions of a flawed tropical paradise going through some serious business changes ring true. And the family that runs the coffee plantation has enough diversity to keep everyone guessing about the death of one of its members until the last drop. To bone up on Gideon Oliver in paperback, try: The Dark Place, Dead Men's Hearts, Fellowship of Fear, Icy Clutches, Make No Bones, Murder in the Queen's Armes, and Old Bones. From Publishers WeeklyGideon Oliver, the shrewd, witty and self-deprecating forensic anthropologist, is at the top of his form in his ninth appearance (after Dead Men's Hearts, 1994). This tale, populated with a memorable and well-defined cast, finds Gideon traveling to Tahiti with friend and FBI agent John Lau to investigate what might have been the murder of Brian Scott, manager of the thriving, family-owned Paradise Coffee Plantation and common-law husband of the owner's daughter Therese. Amid rumors of Mafia retaliation for earlier, unfriendly testimony by plantation owner Nick Druett, Gideon runs into unexpected obstacles. Neither Nick nor Therese wants Brian's body exhumed; Nick's good friend, the pompous head of the local gendarmerie, agrees. Gideon, perceptive as always, notices something extraordinary in the official photographs of Brian and, as the ensuing investigation progresses, the seemingly close-knit family begins to unravel. Therese, who is docile and uncommunicative, her politically correct sister and other, more devious family members are all at odds over a lucrative offer to buy the plantation, a move Brian had opposed. Zipping along at a smooth and rapid clip, the story combines masterfully etched characters and suggestions of lingering aromas of frangipani and coconut palms with the consummate panache of its hero. Elkins rewards his readers with a riveting mystery even while altering forever the way they will view their trendy, upscale coffee. Mystery Guild featured alternate; author tour. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.