‘Dead Guilty’ by Beverly Connor

Published by Piatkus. 

ISBN 0-7499-3752-1

I enjoyed reading Dead Guilty , the fifth book she has written but the first of hers that I have read.  The book is set in Georgia U.S.A. in a  place called Rosewood and the detective in the story is Diane Fallon.  One unusual aspect is that Diane has a double function,  she is the forensic anthropologist in a crime laboratory housed in the same building as Rosewood Museum of which she is also in charge.  This was an economy measure to cut down expenses for the Rosewood Police Department and the City Museum in what was called a "collaborative partnership"and gives the author an opportunity to write about the expertise needed for  both the crime laboratory and the museum.  The introduction of a mummy, possibly that of a pharoah, gives Beverly Connor the chance to use her professional knowledge as an archaeologist and her specialist experience in bone identification.  These are all woven into a story with a background set in the American South.

As well as this , the story includes considerable information and knowledge about caving, diamonds, face reconstruction and knots ( I checked the last in the Ashley Book of Knots and reckon she knows what she is writing about).  So it is an interesting read but it is quite a grim story.  It starts with the discovery of three bodies hanging in the forest with the stretched necks and general condition of having been there for some time.  This discovery is followed by three other murders, all of which seem to be linked.  Close details of body conditions and medical exploratory work on them can be rather alarming.

As often happens in detective plots, the murderer is also after Diane and he taunts her with messages, e-mails, phone calls, flowers and an attack on her apartment.  Personal relationships are explored though somewhat briefly and it all finishes with an exciting adventure in a caving.

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Rosemary Brown