Elkins continues his fascinating and fun adventures of Gideon Oliver this time in Tahiti. The scientific detail, the descriptions of place, the cuisine, and the mystery all make an excellent murder mystery novel. Now I really want to visit Tahiti, especially for the ubiquitous scent of tropical Tahitian flowers! I highly recommend this book. ( )

Gideon Oliver's friend, FBI Agent John Lau, asks for his help in a family matter in Tahiti. Lau's family grows coffee - some of the most expensive coffee in the work. Lau finds out that the significant other of a family member has had a few serious accidents in a short period of time and then he was killed. When Lau and Oliver get to Tahiti the head of the family, Nick, had decided against an exhumation and investigation, but they proceed anyway and find evidence of murder.

Consistent good stuff. ( )

"The dead man is the manager of Tahiti's Paradise Coffee plantation, producer of the most expensive coffee bean in the world -- the winey, luscious Blue Devil. His fall from a cliff is the latest accident is a string of mishaps, and although nothing tangible points to foul play, FBI agent John Lau has his suspicions. What he needs is evidence -- and the best forensic expert in the business, his friend anthropologist Gideon Oliver, the Skeleton Detective.

"Gideon likes his java strong and his bones ancient, dry, and dusty. But the body he must examine had lain in the tropical sun for a week before it was found, and then buried native-style, without a casket. If this case is not exactly Gideon's cup of ... well, tea, it is not the state of the remains that bothers him. It's the real human ugliness he suspects he'll soon unearth.

"To make matters worse, Gideon finds trouble in paradise: a most unwelcoming local police commandant, a strange reluctance by the Blue Devil owners to uncover any wrong-doing, and the lack of an exhumation order. Sneaking into a graveyard with a shovel and flashlight isn't his idea of a professional analysis. And what he finds six feet under will prove the ultimate test of his skills: a subtle clue that points to foul play, and bones so puzzling that they have Gideon stumped ... for a while. Now Gideon must cut to the heart of a crime to find the motive that may have percolated through a family for decades -- and brewed a taste for murder."
~~front & back flaps

As John is trying to talk Gideon into digging up the grave themselves (what could possibly go wrong ...?) Gideon thinks: "Hehad done some damnfool things in his time, a rather high percentage of them at John's instigation ..." One of my all time favorite sentences! "... and he was sincerely afraid of getting himself talked into another." And it was even funnier when the cop caught them ...

This is a whacking god story, imho because of the interplay and affection between John & Gideon. They're chalk and cheese, but between them they always solve their cases. I don't think Mr. Elkins is writing this series any longer, which breaks my heart. ( )

Murder in Polynesia this time, on a coffee plantation. Appealing characters, not too much effort, as always. Elkins must have a lot of fun traveling around to research his books. Lots of exotic locales, lots of tax write offs. ( )