Rating: 
Summary: An entertaining Gideon Oliver mystery set in France.
Review: "Skeleton Bones" is a delightful entry in the series of mysteries featuring Gideon Oliver, also known as the "Skeleton Detective" (a name that Gideon hates). One noteworthy aspect of the "Gideon Oliver books" is the wonderful camraderie that exists between Gideon and his wife, Julie. Rarely does a married couple add to a mystery novel, but Gideon and Julie are both intelligent and witty, and there is genuine chemistry between them. "Skeleton Dance" takes place in the small French town of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, home to many prehistoric fossils. Gideon is there with Julie to do research for his new book, but he is sidetracked by the discovery of bones that are far from prehistoric. A very amusing police inspector, named Lucien Jolie, is an old friend of Gideon, and together the two men try to figure out who is responsible for a series of mysterious murders. The characters in the book, most of whom are eccentric scientists, are delightfully depicted and the tone is light throughout. My only quibble is that the solution to the mystery is a bit forced, but I do recommend "Skeleton Dance" for fans of light mysteries.
Rating: 
Summary: A great read!
Review: Another book in the series featuring the always interesting "skeleton detective" Gideon Oliver. In this outing, a dog discovers a human skeleton which had been buried in a prehistoric cave in Southwestern France. It quickly turns into a murder investigation, and a local police detective calls in Dr. Oliver who, coincidentally, had been planning a research trip through western Europe. Once there, Gideon gets to work examining the remains. After he makes a tentative identification of the victim, everything seems to break loose and a 3-year old murder gets tied up inextricably with an anthropological hoax involving the director of the local Institute of Prehistory and his subsequent fall from grace and supposed demise in a plane crash. Gideon once again finds himself in the position of implicating of his respected colleagues in the dirty goings-on, in addition to finding himself square in the path of a murderer bent on keeping old secrets buried.
Rating:
Summary: Palaeolithic puzzler
Review: Despite a nonsensical title, another well-crafted mystery from Dr. Elkins: full of clues and red herrings that give you a chance to anticipate plot twists. Atmospheric bits of real sight-seeing and eating in the southwest of France. More than usual attention to anatomy and skeletal forensics to reveal the surprise biography of the victim, laced with accurate and amusing presentations of current physical anthropological, and Palaeolithic archaeological, debates, with Gideon back in the European setting of two of Elkins' best early novels. Humor enlivens a potentially dry focus on bones: "'How wonderful it must be to live in America,' [French coroner] Roussillot said. 'So many murders, so much to be learned.'" Touche. Light summer reading; a puzzler rather than gripping terror. The Gideon book series could be read starting anywhere; oddly, there's no list of previous titles in this book. Aaron and Charlotte Elkins also write mystery series featuring golfers or art historians, if skeletons are too macabre for you.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Steady Elkins
Review: I have read "Loot" by Aaron Elkins and found that art can be a great center for a mystery novel. I was a little skeptical that Elkins series revolving around an archaeology would be as good. I am glad I gave it a shot. Gideon Oliver the main character in this series is a wonderful character that any mystery fan can get into. The story starts when a local dog starts bring home human bones from a cave in France. However these bones are no remains of any old Cro-magnon. These are much to new. Oliver is brought in to determine the age of the bones, and slowly uncovers a scandal in the local institute of archaeology. At the institute is a group of possible suspects of the unknown victim in the cave. Oliver along with detective Joly must put all the pieces together to solve this tricky murder. This novel remains me of Agatha Christie, with it's uniquue locatons and list of suspects. Elkins has a great ability to weace a great story along with not the most enthralling topics. However he makes it work and should be on everyones too read list.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Steady Elkins
Review: I have read "Loot" by Aaron Elkins and found that art can be a great center for a mystery novel. I was a little skeptical that Elkins series revolving around an archaeology would be as good. I am glad I gave it a shot. Gideon Oliver the main character in this series is a wonderful character that any mystery fan can get into. The story starts when a local dog starts bring home human bones from a cave in France. However these bones are no remains of any old Cro-magnon. These are much to new. Oliver is brought in to determine the age of the bones, and slowly uncovers a scandal in the local institute of archaeology. At the institute is a group of possible suspects of the unknown victim in the cave. Oliver along with detective Joly must put all the pieces together to solve this tricky murder. This novel remains me of Agatha Christie, with it's uniquue locatons and list of suspects. Elkins has a great ability to weace a great story along with not the most enthralling topics. However he makes it work and should be on everyones too read list.
Rating: 
Summary: I expected great things from this book based on reviews.
Review: I would describe this book as well-crafted but not a page-turner. For some reason, I had trouble caring about the outcome, perhaps because I had never become attached to any of the characters. ALso, this story, which takes place at a French institute for paleo-anthropology, has too many characters introduced at one time and without giving us a feel for really knowing any of the "suspects." On the other hand, I was interested in the discussions about Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon archeological sites and theories, and the author is clearly knowledgable.
Rating:
Summary: Roll Them Bones
Review: SKELETON DANCE is the tenth Gideon Oliver mystery Aaron Elkins has written. I've read all ten. I guess that makes me a fan. This one finds Gideon and Julie in the south of France on a trip that was intended to be part vacation and part research excursion for a book Gideon plans to write. It seems a dog has turned up some not-so-old human bones from a prehistoric site in the area. Police Inspector Joly asks Gideon to examine the bones for clues. Like all the other books in this series, Elkins manages to make the examination of a few bones fascinating. There is always some unique bit of information to be gleaned by the trained eye. On the other hand, these aren't the most intriguing mysteries ever. Sometimes the "surprising" developments aren't all that surprising. The clues are clever and the writing is witty, though. Gideon and Julie are familiar, easy-to-like characters and Elkins infuses the stories with a wry sense of humor. The result is a story that keeps the reader entertained and wanting to see what happens next. Even if it only confirms what you thought. I always hesitate to give a Gideon Oliver mystery five stars. These stories aren't really on a par with a classic creation like Sherlock Holmes. Of the light mysteries currently being written, however, these are among my favorites. I look forward to each one and always enjoy them. Inevitably, though, I have enjoyed some more than others. In my opinion, SKELETON DANCE is one of the better ones.
Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing...
Review: Sports announcers like to use the expression "mail it in" to refer to an occasion when a normally gifted athlete performs poorly in a given game, mainly due to lack of effort. In "Skeleton Dance," Aaron Elkins mails it in. Elkins has proven himself a talented writer and a creator of compelling and highly readable mysteries. He won much deserved acclaim for his Gideon Oliver series, and his most recent novel, "Loot" (which is not in the series), is even better. "Skeleton Dance," his latest Gideon Oliver mystery, is a mess. Elkins is barely going through the motions here, and in a not very successful manner. The plot is as thin as can be, the characters are all two-dimensional stereotypes, and the writing is at times terrible. Consider this sentence from the very first page of the book: "A moment later a squarish, black head with glistening, excited eyes and a mouth filled with shearing, crushing teeth thrust itself into the entrance, low to the ground." To my mind, that's a textbook example of bad writing (why use one adjective when you can use six?). Or consider this chapter opening: "Inasmuch as the session wasn't scheduled until two in the afternoon, they decided to take the morning off and relax." "Inasmuch"? Later in the story, in a bid to create tension, Elkins reverts to the cheapest and most hackneyed of mystery-writing devices. A key witness calls the detective on the phone, and tells him, "I have a dreadful confession..." Naturally, he cannot reveal his startling news over the telephone, and our hero agrees to meet with him in person. I'm not giving anything away by saying that, of course, the detective arrives at their arranged meeting place only to find the witness murdered (and I say "I'm not giving anything away" because even a reader unfamiliar with mysteries will have already guessed as much, the set-up is so clichéd and obvious). Worst of all, when the story finally gets interesting, it ends very abruptly and the murderer is peremptorily revealed, almost as if Elkins has just given up and decided to get it over with. In fact, at a mere 246 pages, this reader at least feels he certainly didn't get his $23.00 worth. My advice is to skip this one and try one of Elkins's early Gideon Oliver novels, or even better, the excellent "Loot."
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Summary: Digging up the past, and a murder along with it!
Review: This is a amusing book. For readers who like their mysteries to have some basis in fact and preferably a foot in reality, this is a series with definite promise. Scientists are not as free from emotions and prejudices as the general public has been led to believe, and Aaron Elkins plays on this knowledge with terrific results. This was the first time I had picked up a mystery with the Professor Gideon Oliver in it. Since I love forensics and enjoy archaeology when it is well-written about, this book was loads of fun. The author gives plenty of background to the story plot; he makes sure that the fictional web he weaves has enough information for the general reader to understand the science behind the mystery without wasting a lot of words or time. I was fascinated by the descriptions of the 'abris', the information on how 'fakes' are made to look old, and the knowledge about the arguments in the anthropological sciences. Actually the basis of the whole story lies in professional jealousy, which is not far-fetched at all (I saw too many scientists who wanted to prove their theories at any cost, and have read about more!). I have never been to France so I have to take Elkin's word for his descriptions of this area of the world. His detailed account of both the countryside, and the anthropological discoveries makes for outstanding color and background for the mystery plot. I got a kick out of his narration of the little towns in this area of France who are proud of their place in science, and the picture he drew of all the townspeople going to listen to lectures on the anthropology discoveries in their area. How nice it would be if Americans would put as much interest into science and their own histories! As other reviewers have said, the story line was a tad slow, but well worth the wait. It is nice to find another intelligent mystery writer. His writing is better than good, his descriptions are wonderful, characterization is pretty good, and his plot line and the science involved are fantastic. This is a definite 'must-read' addition to my list of authors. Karen SAdler, Science Education, University of PIttsburgh
Rating:
Summary: The Bone Investigator
Review: This was my first Elkins book. I like trying new authors. I was impressed with this mystery. The main character,Gideon Oliver, is a Hercule Poirot with a twist. He solves murder mysteries through looking at the bones of the murdered. Mr Elkins is a very entertaining author with a good sense of humor. Gideon is a likeable main character and the rest of the cast is engaging as well. Try this bone on for size.
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