Book description
Montana paleoartist Ansel Phoenix, stunned by the incinerated body of
the Indian blasted up into the mouth of her life-sized Allosaurus
replica standing outside the Big Toe Natural History Museum, starts
digging. Poachers have been cutting out fossil Carnosaur tracks along
the Red Water River-an Indian poacher-and the Bureau of Land Management
is threatening to close the museum and move the tracks inside an
educational institution. And the FBI investigation of the man's fatal
accident, triggered by the explosion of a faulty valve on his
propane-powered concrete saw, is freezing out the local cops. Who is the
dead poacher? Clues point to a rodeo heritage. But a final answer will
have to come from taking his head up to Billings for an attempt at
facial reconstruction. Using her half-Blackfoot heritage as leverage,
rancher's daughter Ansel devises a dangerous scheme to help the Feds-is
it the FBI? Or is it the BLM? Or some other agency?-expose a statewide
ring of dinosaur thieves. But she didn't count on complications with
commercial dealers in fossils; it's a big money market. Or starting a
new romance, or the continuation of her “partnership” with local law
officer Reid Dorbandt. Or being stalked by a deadly nemesis from her
childhood. In the wilds of the American West a man stealing fossil
dinosaur tracks dies when his rock cutter's propane tank explodes,
hurling him into the jaws of a life-sized Allosaurus statue. When the
toasted body is found, everyone in the vicinity seems to get involved in
solving the crime. Enter half-Crow Indian paleoartist Ansel Phoenix, who
sculpted the Allosaurus, along with the Big Toe Sheriff's Department,
Police Department, the FBI, Bureau of Land Management and, eventually,
the Bureau of Indian Affairs. No one can accuse the author of thinking
small! In the midst of a devastating drought, most of the locals are
just trying to survive. Ansel is content just helping her father keep
his cattle ranch afloat, riding the range and painting her dinosaur
pictures, while searching for fossils in her spare time. It's a good
life and she's content. Then the bodies begin to stack up. When the
alphabet soup of government agencies shows up the reader always knows
that confusion, deception and squabbles over jurisdiction are
inevitable. And so it is here. Recruited by the FBI to help uncover an
illegal fossil theft ring, Phoenix winds up in the middle of the action.
Her relationship with local homicide detective Reid Dorbandt -- not
business, not romance, but something in between -- confuses the issue of
whether she should help crack the case or stay out of the way in case
trouble happens. And trouble definitely happens! The body count here is
high, the deceptions many. Don't assume anything. CARNOSAUR CRIMES
follows in the western tradition of J. A. Jance, Michael McGarrity and
Tony Hillerman. This second novel in the Ansel Phoenix series gives
promise of further adventures for a character nearly unique in the
annals of mystery fiction. The reader can hope that the author smoothes
out the characterizations a little; like many early novels the
interactions are a little clunky at times. But this is a minor quibble
for a book that is a lot of fun. Christine Gentry is a psychologist
living in North Carolina. She has written several fiction and nonfiction
books and taught courses on freelance writing and police report writing
for law enforcement professionals. Her interests include dinosaurs,
photography, and parapsychology. Her author website is www.
gentrybooksonline. com
