"strong amateur sleuth"
A paleoartist uses scientific expertise and a bit of
intuition to draw pictures of dinosaurs for museums, book
covers and magazines. Ansel Phoenix is one of the best and
her work is in demand. Whatever spare time she has is
devoted to the Pangaea Society, a non-profit organization
devoted to the study of fossils and raising interest,
awareness and knowledge of the subject. They bought some
land and with a $300,000 bequest they plan to build the
Preston Opel Paleohistory center, a storehouse of specimens
and research materials pertaining to fossils. While fossil hunting in a deserted field with three
graduate students, Ansel discovers the body of Nick Capos,
a former lover and a member of the Pangaea Society. While
the police investigate the homicide, Ansel learns that
Nick's valuable fossil collection is missing and a man
looking for money and the Baltic Amber attacks her in her
own studio. She knows nothing about these items. When
another member of the Pangaea Society is killed, Ansel
intends to find out what is going on before someone else is
murdered. Anyone reading MESOZOIC MURDER will understand why some
people become obsessed with fossils and dinosaurs as
Christine Gentry makes them come alive for the reader. The
mystery itself is well crafted and believable as is the
actions of the heroine who stumbles sometimes but makes a
lot of progress in a short period of time in discovering
who the killer is, but during her investigation trying to
stay alive becomes the crux of the matter. Ms. Gentry is a
very talented writer who hopefully will write other
mysteries starring this feisty protagonist. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted July 18, 2003
|
