Aaron J Elkins

Detective Gideon Oliver and his wife are on vacation in Mexico when a local police chief requests his assistance on a case. After Oliver realizes the coroner has misidentified two bodies, he concludes these two mistakes are no coincidence.

"When anthropology professor Gideon Oliver is offered a teaching fellowship at US military bases in Germany, Sicily, Spain, and Holland, he wastes no time accepting. Stimulating courses to teach, a decent stipend, all expenses paid, plenty of interesting European travel ... What's not to like? It does not take him long to find out. On his first night, he is forced to fend off two desperate, black-clad men who have invaded his Heidelberg hotel room...

Buried ceremoniously, high in a cave, lies the skeleton of a human woman, clutching the skeleton of a part-human, part-Neanderthal child. Fascinated, Professor Oliver jumps at the chance to attend a conference near there. But two deaths, possibly murders, have rocked Gibraltar. As Oliver tries to piece things together, he's about to fall for some deadly tricks. After all, unlike the Gibraltar Boy, he's only human.

The Skeleton Detective is back. A cold case dating from the 1960s draws forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver to the Channel Islands decades later to shine a light on the mysterious connection between two men who died there on the same night. Swapped as young boys by their fathers during the Nazi occupation, wealthy Roddy Carlisle and middle-class George Skinner had some readjusting to do after the war ended--but their lives remained linked through...

Even on an Italian holiday, anthropologist Gideon Oliver and his wife can't seem to find any R. & R. They are guests of Mrs. Oliver's colleague on an idyllic island. But the breathtaking view and sumptuous food come at a price. The padrone's only child, Archille, has been kidnapped, bones have been found and Gideon must mix business with pleasure.