This is the fifth book in the series and once again just like the last few books, this one was just ok. I think I'm gonna abandon ship and read something else. I'm just not feeling it with these Alexander Cooper books. ( )

The setting for the murder that is at the center of The Bone Vault takes place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Alexandra Cooper is investigating the murder of a woman who used to work there. She was working on a modern bestiary that was a joint venture between the Met and American Museum of Natural History. Cooper finds the murder victim in a sarcophagus intended for an Egyptian princess. Setting plays a key role in this novel as much of the investigation takes place at the respective museums as the investigation reveals that the victim was involved in bringing back old remains to the land in which it originated.

I feel mostly ambivalent about this novel. The setting definitely adds to the novel. It’s a mixture of high culture, high society, and big-game hunters. It was not the typical scene for a murder mystery. Much of the plot is convoluted and kind of meanders. The killer is not set up very well. When the reveal happens, I didn’t have a reaction that was “oh, that makes sense.” It was more like, “Really?” In the end, this wasn’t a bad novel, it was more of a mediocre one. There was nothing exceptional about it, but it was a solid read.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street ( )

Alex, Mike and Mercer solve the case of a modern day woman murdered by arsenic poisoning hidden in asarcophagus at the Metropolitan Museum. Lots of behind the scenes info at the museum. ( )

Everything was interesting except the characters and the sleuthing. Motive was not clued well; nothing substantive until after the murderer was disclosed (NOT detected). Fascinating trivia about archeology and museums. ( )

This time assistant DA Alex Cooper takes us behind the scenes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History and the Cloisters to solve the mystery of a murdered girl found in an Egyptian sarcophagus. As always it's a lively mystery and you learn about New York institutions. ( )