Twenty Blue Devils

Aaron Elkins

Jul 2019 · Gideon Oliver Mysteries Book 9 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Joel Richards

About this audiobook

The dead man is the manager of Tahiti's Paradise Coffee Plantation, producer of the most expensive coffee bean in the world, the winey, luscious Blue Devil. Nothing tangible points to foul play behind his fall from a cliff, but FBI agent John Lau, a relative of the coffee growing family, has his suspicions. What he needs is evidence, and who better to provide it than his friend, anthropologist Gideon Oliver, the Skeleton Detective? Gideon is willing to help, but surprisingly-and suspiciously-both the police and the other family members refuse to okay an exhumation order. As a result, Gideon, to his surprise and against his better judgment, finds himself sneaking into a graveyard under cover of night with John, a flashlight, and a shovel. Gideon prefers his bones ancient, dry, and dusty, but the body he must examine had lain in the tropical sun for a week before it was found and then buried native style-shallow, with no casket-so it is not exactly his . . . well, cup of tea. But it is not the state of the remains that bothers him the most, it is the deeper human ugliness that his examination uncovers: subtle clues that do indeed point to foul play, to mistaken identity, and to a murderous conspiracy that may have percolated through the family for decades-and brewed a taste for murder.

About the author

Aaron Elkins is a former anthropologist who has been writing mysteries and thrillers since 1982. He won an Edgar for Old Bones, as well as a subsequent Agatha with his wife Charlotte, and a Nero Wolfe Award. His major continuing series features forensic anthropologist-detective Gideon Oliver, "the Skeleton Detective."

Joel Richards was the kid who did crazy things just to have a good story to tell afterward. On deciding to make his affection his profession, he received a BFA in acting and a BA in English from the University of Utah. He has narrated over 150 audiobooks and continues to tell his original stories to live audiences.