What do You think about The Bone Vault (2003)?
This book was pretty good, good enough to keep me wanting to read further anyway. The dialogue was snappy and full of cop lingo, maybe too much in fact. It came off sounding forced at times (do people really talk that way?). What really brought this book down for me was first of all the characterizations: I never really got a feel for any of the characters, and in fact I still can't tell two of them apart (Mike and Mercer). The narrator didn't have a very distinct voice and never really seemed to be a part of the story at all, but was much more of an observer.Secondly, I felt cheated when the real reason behind the murder was revealed: It was like it came way out of left field and even after all the explanations, I am still not convinced it was a motive for murder.Third, there were too many extraneous story lines that had nothing to do with the plot. The whole aside about September 11th, the other cases, and even the rape were completely unnecessary to the overall plot, and distracting because I kept trying to figure out what the connection would be.And finally, there was just simply too much preaching and exposition on the evils of white man, etc. Clearly a well-researched book, though, with lots of interesting bits of information, and as I said the basic plot and the dialogue were enough to keep me interested throughout.
—Swissmiss
The Bone Vault is another great book in the Alexandra Cooper series. As is typical for Linda Fairstein books, this was an intense, absorbing mystery involving prosecuter Alexandra Cooper and her detective colleagues, Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace. An ancient sarcophagus being transported from the Metropolitan Museum of Art is discovered to contain a murder victim whose demise was sometime in the last several months. Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper is in a position to immediately become involved in the investigation along with her cohorts Mike and Wallace. The victim, whose autopsy indicates death by arsenic poisoning, was a former intern at the Met and was helping to plan a joint exhibition with the Museum of Natural History. Alexandra, Mike, and Wallace delve into the world of funerary art and the curiosities of natural history as they try to solve the murder. Both museums are found to keep large quantities of arsenic for restoration purposes. Several department heads and employees of the two museums are called upon to give information during the investigation, and Alexandra and her team must determine which of these would have had motive to end the life of the victim.I always enjoy the Alexandra Cooper novels, and this one lived up to my expectations. As usual, I particularly enjoyed the interaction between Alexandra and detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace. I look forward to reading the next book in this crime fiction series.
—Christa
#5 in the Alexandra Cooper series.NYC ADA Alexandra Cooper series - "Coop" is an attractive workaholic in her 30s, ambivalent about her current relationship with an always-on-the-road NBC correspondent. While she's attending a reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, new Met director Pierre Thibodaux pulls her aside and asks for help with a recent crisis: a customs security dog found that a Met sarcophagus ready for shipment back to Cairo contained the corpse of a young female researcher from the Cloisters, the Met's medieval branch. Coop calls her usual NYPD sidekick detectives, brash Mike Chapman and burly Mercer Wallace, and the trio sets out to search among the museum's bookish staff and rich benefactors for a killer with a motive. In the meantime, Coop and Chapman, who should be a couple but don't know it yet, lecture one another on ancient history and contemporary law, and place bets on Jeopardy questions.
—Ed
