The Dark Place, by Aaron J. Elkins

Retrieved from: my library
0802755658, 1983
Suggested by: The List
My Ratings: 7 Merit, 8 Interest, 8 Fun

The second title in the "Skeleton Doctor" series--although the jacket says it's a "Professor Gideon Oliver mystery." It definitely shows its age: some of the terminology is decidedly non-PC, and the pages are turning yellow. They have that darker-on-the-edges patina that only 20-year-old acid-based paper can have.

But the story...well, it was ok. Actually, it was pretty contrived--there's an 'undiscovered' Indian tribe still living in the woods in Oregon?? The plot was quite formulaic--Gideon has to find a chick to sleep with in both books so far (to keep those romance-oriented female readers, don'tcha know).

But I like the guy. I like the rest of the characters. I like the pacing. And I like the forensics, even if CSI has completely made the whole discussion passe. I'll soldier on, because I like the nitty-gritty bone-work.