Murder by the Book - Regina Public Library’s mystery discussion group
Digging up Death: Archaeological Murder
Any archeologist is already a kind of detective, sorting through forensic
evidence to reconstruct events (both crimes and everyday life) from the
past; by its very nature, the deductive aspect of archaeology seems to make
it a good subject fit with murder mysteries. (And after all, have people’s
motivations for crime really changed that much in the last 15,000 years?)
Our list includes archaeologists in a variety of murder-related roles; we
have archaeologists who investigate crimes or who work with the police
analyzing evidence, a surprising number of archaeologist victims (are they
really that annoying?) and also some archaeologists who are just innocent
bystanders to murder. In a few cases, an archaeological dig happens to be
the scene of the murder or the site for disposal of the body. Many of the
titles on the list are one of a longer series, but the list includes only the one
with a plot connected to archaeology. When an entire series is about
archaeology, (e.g. Elizabeth Peters’ series with Amelia Peabody) we include
the first and last series titles.
Albert, Susan Wittig (attorney-turned-herbalist China Bayles)
- Dead Man’s Bones (2005) (Bayles’ 14-year-old stepson goes on an
archaeological dig and finds a modern body with its skull bashed
in; Book # 14)
Atherton, Nancy (ghost Aunt Dimity)
- Aunt Dimity Digs In (1998) (ghost Aunt Dimity helps Lori Shepherd
investigate the theft of a document that would prove that an
archaeological discovery which has divided the village is a hoax;
Book # 4)
Baron, Aileen Garsson (American archaeology grad student Lily Sampson
is working on a dig in Palestine in 1938 when another archaeologist
on the dig is murdered)
- A Fly Has a Hundred Eyes (2002)
Bland, Eleanor Taylor (Lincoln Prairie homicide detective Marti
McAlister)
- Fatal Remains (2003) (McAlister investigates murder at
archaeology dig related to the Underground Railway; Book # 11)
Brown, Rita Mae (postmistress Mary Minor Haristeen)
- Murder at Monticello (1994) (the archaeologist who dug up a murder
victim under the slave quarters at Monticello turns up dead;
Book # 3)
Cameron, Dana (university professor and archaeologist Emma Fielding;
these are the fifth and sixth in a series, but the only ones RPL has)
- More Bitter than Death (2005)
- Ashes and Bones (2006)
Cleverly, Barbara - Tomb of Zeus (2007) (aspiring archaeologist Laetitia
Talbot investigates the possible suicide of a friend, set in Crete in
the 1920s)
Connor, Beverly (University of Georgia archaeologist Lindsay
Chamberlain; this is the third of a five book series but the only one
RPL has)
- Dressed to Die (1998)
Corwin, C.R. (newspaper “morgue” librarian Maddy Sprowls)
- Dig (2005) (Maddy looks into the murder of an archaeologist friend;
Book # 2)
Davis, Val (archaeologist Nicolette Scott; these are the last two of the
series, the only ones RPL has, and take place in the Southwestern
United States)
- Return of the Spanish Lady (2001)
- Thread of the Spider (2002)
Ellis, Kate (archaeologist Neil Watson and British detective sergeant
Wesley Peterson, who also has archaeology training, work together
to solve crimes)
- The Armada Boy (2000) (second in series, first RPL has)
- The Blood Pit (2008)
Elkins, Aaron (archaeologist and professor Dr. Gideon Oliver; RPL is
missing three titles in the series of fifteen)
- The Fellowship of Fear (1982)
- Uneasy Relations (2008)
Evans, Mary Anna (Florida archaeologist Faye Longchamp; this is the
first of three in the series, but the only one RPL has)
- Artifacts (2003)
Gear, Kathleen O'Neal (Southwestern U.S. archaeologist Dusty Stewart;
RPL is missing the middle book of the series, Summoning God)
- The Visitant (1999)
- Bone Walker (2001)
Gerritsen, Tess (Boston detective Jane Rizzoli)
- The Keepsake (2008) (the disappearance of an archaeologist and
the discovery of a mysterious mummy; Book # 7)
Hamilton, Lyn (Toronto antiquities dealer Lara McClintoch; RPL is missing
only the fifth title in the series: The African Quest)
- The Xibalba Murders (1997)
- The Chinese Alchemist (2007)
Hart, Erin (Irish archaeologist Cormac Maguire and Nora Gavin, an
American pathologist; the books take place in Ireland)
- Haunted Ground (2003)
- Lake of Sorrows (2004)
Hewson, David (Italian police officer Nic Costa)
- The Seventh Sacrament (2007) (Costa investigates the
disappearance and possible murder of an archaeology
professor’s son; Book # 5)
Hirschfeld, Corson (Hawaiian archaelogist "Digger" Fitz investigates the
murder of his cousin in Kentucky)
- Too High (2001)
Kelly, Jim (newspaper reporter Phillip Dryden)
- The Moon Tunnel (2005)(Dryden investigates a World War II
murder at an archaeological dig; Book # 3)
King, Laurie (Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes)
- A Letter of Mary (1998) (Russell and Holmes investigate a letter
supposedly written by Mary Magdalene; Book # 3)
Knief, Charles (private investigator John Caine in Hawaii)
- Silversword (2001) (Caine comes to the aid of a student who has
stumbled upon some priceless artifacts of island history; Book
# 4)
Land, Jon (Chief Inspector Danielle Barnea of Israel's National Police and
Detective Ben Kamal of the Palestinian police)
- A Walk in the Darkness (2000) (Barnea and Kamal team up to
investigate after an archaeology team was found murdered in
the desert; Book # 3)
Leon, Donna (Venetian detective Guido Brunetti)
- Acqua Alta (1996) (a museum curator is murdered and a visiting
archaeologist narrowly escapes, Book # 5)
Lewis, Roy (Northumberland archaeologist Arnold Landon) RPL has only
Books # 11, 14 and 18
- Angel of Death (1995) published under the name J.R. Lewis
- Ghost Dancers (1999)
- Grave Error (2005)
McCrumb, Sharyn (student archaeologist Elizabeth MacPherson; not all
the mysteries in this series concern archaeology) Try the following:
- Lovely in Her Bones (1985) (baffling case of murder at an ancient
Indian burial site in the Appalachians; Book # 2)
- Paying the Piper (1988) (An archaeological team digging on a remote
Scotland island has a killer in its ranks; Book # 4)
Mitchell, Kirk (Bureau of Indian Affairs investigator Emmett Parker and
FBI special agent Anna Turnipseed)
- Ancient Ones (2001) (Anna investigates an illegal fossil hunter who
uncovered ancient human remains; Book # 3)
Peters, Elizabeth (archaeologist Amelia Peabody; Egypt) (RPL has all
eighteen titles in series)
- Crocodile on the Sandbank (1975)
- Tomb of the Golden Bird (2006)
Phillips, Arthur - The Egyptologist (2004) (Obsessed Egyptologist Ralph
Trilipush risks his professional reputation on a search for the tomb
of an apocryphal pharaoh, while an Australian detective embarks on
a global search for a murderer.)
Pickard, Nancy (Arizona rancher and chef Eugenia Potter)
- The Blue Corn Murders (1998) (Eugenia investigates a murder at a
Colorado archaeology camp)
Rose, Karen - Die for Me (2007) (homicide detective Vito Ciccotelli is
forced to work with archaeologist Sophie Johannsen to solve a
series of murders; romantic suspence)
Rowlands, Betty (Bristol police detective Sukey Reynolds)
- Alpha Beta Gamma Dead (2007) (Sukey investigates the murder of a
visiting archaeologist; Book # 8)
Scarborough, Elizabeth Ann - Channeling Cleopatra (2002) (Forensic
anthropologist Leda Hubbard searches for Cleopatra's grave in
order to gain access to the powerful queen's genetic material)
See, Lisa (police inspector Liu Hulan and American lawyer David Stark,
China)
- Dragon Bones (2003) (Hulan and David investigate trouble at an
archaeological dig near the construction site of the Three
Gorges Dam; Book # 3)
Sussman, Paul (Inspector Yusaf Khalifa of the Luxor police, Egypt)
- The Last Secret of the Temple (2005) (When the body of a hotelowner is discovered at an archaeological site by the Nile,
Inspector Khalifa expects it to be a simple open-and-shut case)
Wall, Kathryn (private detective Bay Tanner)
- Judas Island (2004) (Bay investigates the death of an archaeologist
who had recently discovered a mysterious skeleton, Book # 4)
(Credit is due to the Supper Sleuths of Lucius Beebe Memorial Library in Wakefield Massachusetts
for the original list. Extra titles were added from Novelist and the Stop You’re Killing Me
databases. These databases were also used for series information and plot descriptions.
September 2008