Effigies: A Faye Longchamp Mystery: 3 (Faye Longchamp Archaeological Mysteries, 3) - Softcover

"Archaelogist Faye Longchamp (Relics) with her friend Joe Wolf Mantooth join a dig in Neshoba County, MS, to excavate a Choctaw sacred mound. Soon they realize that on the adjacent property sits an undiscovered mound and that the man who owns the land is about to bulldoze it into the ground. When he is murdered, Faye and Joe become suspects as well as amateur investigators. Starting with racial tension between blacks and whites, Evans adds Native Americans into the mix and comes up with a thought-provoking tale about people trying to live together." --Library Journal "Archaeologist Faye Longchamp (Artifacts, 2003) and her Native American friend Joe Wolf Mantooth are in Neshoba County, Mississippi, working on an excavation near Nanih Waiya, the sacred mound that is said to be the birthplace of the Choctaw Nation. A nearby farm has an ancient mound that appears to be rich in artifacts, but the owner, Carroll Calhoun, refuses to let the team investigate. In fact, he gets on his tractor and tries to bulldoze the mound along with a few of the archaeologists. The local sheriff diffuses the situation, but, later, Calhoun turns up dead. Since the murder weapon is a handmade stone blade, and Faye and Joe were nearby, they become suspects. As the pair works to clear themselves, the countys history of racism surfaces. Like Randy Wayne White in his Doc Ford novels, Evans adds an extra layer of substance to her series continues by drawing readers into the fascinating history of ancient American civilizations."--Booklist "In Evans's intriguing third mystery to feature archeologist Faye Longchamp (after 2005'sRelics ), Faye and her Native American assistant, Joe Wolf Mantooth, leave Joyeuse Island, Fla., for a dig in rural Mississippi at the site of a proposed highway. They arrive during the Neshoba County Fair, a weeklong celebration during which residents put aside their differences to honor the area's mixed-race heritage. But when the archeologists discover another important site on the property of Carroll Calhoun, a racist with ties to the KKK, he not only refuses to let them excavate but tries to bulldoze what might be a sacred Choctaw burial mound. In the ensuing clash, racial tensions hit the boiling point over who has rights to the mound. Calhoun is then found dead, his throat slit with an ancient Indian blade, and Faye investigates after suspicion falls on Joe and other area Native Americans. Though Evans has been compared to Tony Hillerman, her sympathetic characters and fascinating archeological lore add up to a style all her own.(Jan.)" --Publishers Weekly ""The crew hired to document an endangered area on the property of a Choctaw archaeologist whose family and tribe have mixed feelings about digging up their past can't help eying farmer Carroll Calhoun's spectacular mound across the road. The day after he refuses permission to investigate to the professor in charge, Calhoun attempts to destroy the mound, fearing the authorities will confiscate his land. A dangerous standoff is defused when Nashoba County Sheriff Neely Rutland arrives and agrees to look into the legal issues. Racism rears its head when a locally born black man, Lawrence Johnson Judd, a retired congressman, gives a speech at the county fair in which he tells of being hooded and nearly beaten to death before the last-minute arrival of an unseen man. When Calhoun's throat is cut by a stone weapon and Judd almost dies from an overdose, Faye's curiosity gets the best of her. Faye, Joe and attractive visiting racial activist Ross Donnelly set out to find the site of Judd's attack. Trapped in a cave, they manage to escape and confront the killer at a public forum where the sins of the past prove to be the motive for murder. A captivating combination of archeology, Native-American tales, romance and detection. A must-read for those so inclined."" --Kirkus Reviews "The crew hired to document an endangered area on the property of a Choctaw archaeologist whose family and tribe have mixed feelings about digging up their past can't help eying farmer Carroll Calhoun's spectacular mound across the road. The day after he refuses permission to investigate to the professor in charge, Calhoun attempts to destroy the mound, fearing the authorities will confiscate his land. A dangerous standoff is defused when Nashoba County Sheriff Neely Rutland arrives and agrees to look into the legal issues. Racism rears its head when a locally born black man, Lawrence Johnson Judd, a retired congressman, gives a speech at the county fair in which he tells of being hooded and nearly beaten to death before the last-minute arrival of an unseen man. When Calhoun's throat is cut by a stone weapon and Judd almost dies from an overdose, Faye's curiosity gets the best of her. Faye, Joe and attractive visiting racial activist Ross Donnelly set out to find the site of Judd's attack. Trapped in a cave, they manage to escape and confront the killer at a public forum where the sins of the past prove to be the motive for murder. A captivating combination of archeology, Native-American tales, romance and detection. A must-read for those so inclined." --Kirkus Reviews "In all three of Faye Longchamp's adventures Mary Anna Evans has given us insights into little known aspects of Americas past. As an archeological tour alone the book would be worth reading, but its the fascinating and complex characters that give the story life and vibrancy" Rhys Bowen "We mystery lovers who've enjoyed ARTIFACTS and then decided that RELICS was even better may not believe this but Ms. Evans has done it again, and EFFIGIES is the best one yet. Again, she makes a lesson in our past a fascinating read." Tony Hillerman.

Elaine Benson, a successful novelist who jettisoned her career over an unreliable screenwriter, is now divorced, broke, and come to a "primitive, untamed northern forest" on Lake Muskoka to interview for a job. Elderly Miss Moira Madison of the fabulously rich Canadian Madisons wishes to write her memoirs. Miss Madison isn't interested in a bestseller. She wants to leave a record of her life, especially of her years with the Canadian Army Nursing Sisters of World War II. Her service in the British and then European theater was filled with triumphs and bitter losses that forever shaped her life. Can Elaine tell her story working with decades of old documents? Settling into the family "cottage" and what remains of a lifestyle long gone, Elaine rediscovers her love of researching the past. But she soon discovers the first writer Miss Madison hired had drowned in the Lake. And now her own project stirs someone to murder..