Old Bones

Old Bones is the first book in a new series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It is the Nora Kelly Book 1 with character Nora Kelly being the curator at the Santa Fe Archaeological Institute. Nora is approached by historian Clive Benton for help in putting together an archeological expedition to locate the Lost Camp of the ill-fated Donner Party. The Donner Party were headed west in 1847 to California but got lost and starved to death. They killed and ate their horses, dogs and then each other. Benton has just found a diary of one of the victims that has clues to the location of the Lost Camp.  He needs the assistance of Nora and her team of explorers and scientists to find the camp as well as a possible treasure grove of gold coins worth twenty million dollars. Nora agrees to lead the expedition. Her team soon discovers that finding the camp and uncovering what the Donners experienced has modern-day repercussions.

Old Bones was an enjoyable read. The pace was steady and the intricate plot gradually unveiled its mysteries. What I find exceptional is that there are two strong female characters that will most likely be working together in future novels.  They make a great pair. Nora Kelly is an archeologist and Corrie Swanson is a rookie FBI agent. Both characters have been in previous Preston and Child books but not together. These two worked side by side in Old Bones after one of Nora's team died unexpectedly. What is unusual is that two male authors are writing about two female protagonists. Usually women write about women and vice versa. It's exciting to see two intelligent women in authoritative positions working in tandem on cases.

While the wild west setting of the book is not something I care for, Old Bones had enough archeology, history and crime to keep me happy. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.