While I was at Malice Domestic, I picked up several books to read. I think I spent way more than I made by selling my books. Anyway, this was one.

I sat next to this author at the book signing and bought his book. Kuehn is a practicing archaeologist so he knows of what he speaks.

Jack Caine is conducting a field school, where students help excavate a site. In this case, a Native American village. A few years previously, another professor, Jacklyn Wardell, had died under mysterious circumstances. Problems at the dig arise; trespassers, a break-in at the lab, and more. When Jake finds Wardell’s Journal, he is drawn even deeper into the mystery of her death.

The local sheriff admits he was never satisfied by the accidental ruling. Then a local photographer who’d taken many photos of the previous dig is found murdered. It’s up to Jack to figure out the mystery and identify the murderer.

During the first half of the book, the murder mystery takes a back seat to the archaeological details. If the reader is interested in archaeology, which I am, this is fascinating. If not, I think the reader will find it slow-moving. The book picks up in the second half, when the mystery moves front and center and Jack begins to seriously investigate. Recommended, with that caveat.