Relics
Faye Longchamp Mysteries #2
by Mary Anna Evans
After the events of the first book in the series (Artifacts) Faye Longchamp is thrilled to at last be
training to become a real archaeologist. Even better, she has been asked to run a project... but there is a
problem. The man running it seems to be doing his best to oust her, and under his direction the project seems to
be going nowhere. She is trying to uncover the origins of the mysterious Sujosa, a "triracial isolate" group like
the Melungeons who live in rural Alabama. Dirt poor, they were promised help from the Rural Assistance Project but
all that seems to happen is the construction of a cell phone tower; in a place where only two people have cell
phones. Soon one of Faye’s colleagues is dead and it looks as though she might be on the hit list too, so, with
her trusty friend Joe by her side it is time to stop digging and play detective once again.
Like the first book this is very much a story about racial heritage, the importance of one’s roots and that
vast quagmire of a topic, race relations. Faye has never fitted in and lives on an island by herself in Florida,
save when visited by Joe Wolf Mantooth, a Creek Native American and now her assistant. The Sujosa do not exist,
but the author has done such a fine job in creating them that they probably ought to, rich cultural heritage and
all. This forms the core of the book, and the whodunit is threaded through it so the two run concurrently, as all
books with more than one theme should manage to do. Joe is a slightly uneven character as in the first book he
seemed rather simple, whereas here he is the Noble Savage so beloved by Victorian writers and makes various
profound utterances at variance with his earlier self. Faye remains a chilly person, and despite the serious
nature of the book, I found myself wishing for an odd moment of humor to contrast with the air of pessimism.
It’s a clever enough tale and curiously seems real, the sort of book to stay in the mind afterwards. |
The Book |
Poisoned Pen Press UK |
November 2006 |
Hardback |
1590581199 |
Crime - Contemporary - Alabama |
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Excerpt |
NOTE: |
The Reviewer |
Rachel A Hyde |
Reviewed 2007 |
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