Where There's a Will

Aaron Elkins is one of the few mystery writers I buy in hardbound rather than waiting a year for the paper back version. My five stars means this novel is consistent with his best. Wherever Gideon Oliver, forensic anthropologist at the Universiry of Washington at Port Angeles travels, it seems inevitable that bones long detached from their original owner will appear. In Where There's A Will, Oliver is vacationing with a... Read Full Review

It's always fun to have another Gideon Oliver novel to read, and this one is no exception. While it's not a great book, it's a good book: a fun read, with the snappy dialogue one expects from Elkins. I personally like the Gideon Oliver series better than Elkins' other series. Since much of the plot has been discussed in other reviews, I'll just point out a few things I particularly liked about this volume: *the details of... Read Full Review

I thought Aaron Elkins kind of dialed this one in. There just wasn't the depth of character or plot development that characterized earlier books in the Gideon Oliver series. In fact, the scenario regarding how Gideon Oliver got involved with the case (bones found in the remains of a plane crash--can he confirm they are the missing family members from ten years before) was remarkably like the device used in a previous book... Read Full Review

I started off my review of Aaron Elkins's last book, _Good Blood_, by calling him the finest writer of "classical" mysteries out there. That hasn't changed--and _Where There's a Will_ is one of his better books. I can give it no higher praise than this: I am a *very* old hand at reading mysteries, and Elkins managed to fool me . . . TWICE. In a couple of ways, _Where There's a Will_ is typical of the Gideon Oliver books... Read Full Review

In 1994, wealthy Magnus Torkelsson is fleeing for his life trying to reach remote Tarabao Island in the Hawaiian chain. However, the bad weather hinders visibility and soon the small plane runs out of gas. Magnus and his pilot Texas transplant Claudia crash into the sea. A decade later, divers in a lagoon 400 miles off the Big island of Hawaii find a plane with two skeletons inside. At the same time Magnus' family learn... Read Full Review