One Grave Too Many

Praise for the novels of Beverly Connor
    “Calls to mind the forensic mysteries of Aaron Elkins and Patricia Cornwell. . . . Chases, murder attempts and harrowing rescues add to this fast-paced adventure.”
    — Chicago Sun-Times

    “Connor combines smart people, fun people, and dangerous people in a novel hard to put down.”
    — The Dallas Morning News

    “Outstanding. . . . Connor grabs the reader with her first sentence and never lets up until book’s end. . . . The story satisfies both as a mystery and as an entrée into the fascinating world of bones. . . . Add Connor’s dark humor, and you have a multidimensional mystery that deserves comparison with the best of Patricia Cornwell.”
    — Booklist (starred review)

    “In Connor’s latest multifaceted tale, the plot is serpentine, the solution ingenious, the academic politics vicious. . . . This entertaining mystery is as chock-full of engrossing anthropological and archeological detail as a newly discovered burial mound.”— Publishers Weekly

    “Connor’s books are a smart blend of Patricia Cornwell, Aaron Elkins, and Elizabeth Peters, with some good, deep-South atmosphere to make it authentic.”
    — Oklahoma Family Magazine

    “Crisp dialogue, interesting characters, fascinating tidbits of bone lore and a murderer that eluded me. When I started reading, I couldn’t stop. What more could you ask for? Enjoy.”
    —Virginia Lanier, author of the Bloodhound series

    “Beverly Connor has taken the dry bones of scientific inquiry and resurrected them into living, breathing characters. I couldn’t put [it] down until I was finished, even though I wanted to savor the story. I predict that Beverly Connor will become a major player in the field of mystery writing.”
    —David Hunter, author of The Dancing Savior

    “Combin[es] forensic anthropology with some pretty sharp antagonists. There is something about ancestors and bones that adds unspeakable excitement and foreboding to a mystery story. . . . Connor’s style is original and fresh.”— Midwest Book Review



ONYX
    Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand,
London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road,
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    Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

    First published by Onyx, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

    First Printing, December 2003

    Copyright © Beverly Connor, 2003
    eISBN : 978-1-101-11878-8
    All rights reserved
    REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

    Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

    PUBLISHER’S NOTE
    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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To Diane Trap

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    A special thanks to GBI crime scene specialist Terry Cooper for his help—and sense of humor. And another special thanks to Genny Ostertag for her amazing work on my manuscript.

RiverTrail Museum

    Second Floor

    Thrid Floor

Chapter 1
    “His head isn’t on straight.”
    “It doesn’t seem to fit. Maybe it’s not