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Alan Cadbury is a professional archeologist: a digger of ancient sites and a man who likes to unravel the mysteries and meaning of the past. For many years, Alan has worked with the "Circuit Diggers," so called because they work the "circuit," moving from one excavation to another, as new sites open across Britain. Most of the sites they dig are ahead of industrial development, new housing estates, gravel quarries, or roads. They are a down-to-earth bunch, but they all know what they want show more from life. Feared by respectable citizens, they are always covered in mud, deeply suntanned and drunk (or stoned) on their days off. Like others on the circuit, Alan Cadbury is obsessive: he won't let problems lie, even when he's slumped drunk in a lonely bedsit, somewhere in the Fens. But there's another side to him, too: in the late 1990s he helped to give a forensic archeology course and there met Richard Lane, now a senior detective in the Leicestershire force. DCI Lane helps him tackle new cases. But this is his first big one: an "honor killing," perpetrated eight years ago in Leicester. It's a dark tale of past wrongdoing and modern criminality. And it's not without violence. Alan's life may be harsh and at times unpleasant, but it's not likely to be very long, either. Oh yes, archeology can be a very dirty business. show lessTags
Member Reviews
Pryor's first foray into fiction-mystery writing and while there are some clunky moments, his marvellous energy and voice, so familiar from his books about archaeology, and deep knowledge of his field thrum through the pages. Nor does Pryor shy away from hurling himself and his characters (Alan Cadbury being a barely disguised Francis Pryor) into a complex story--both socially and literally--not to mention a fabulously disgusting finale. He is, clearly, a born storyteller--his lectures and books on his field demonstrate that as well as his persona on Time Team. I am such a fan of Pryor that I'm not sure you can completely trust my judgement, but I think he's done very well for a first mystery and will read the second. ***1/2
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28+ Works 1,893 Members
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