Review: Where the Bones Are Buried (A Dinah Pelerin Mystery #5) by Jeanne Matthews

• Paperback: 290 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press; 1 edition (Jan. 6 2015)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1464203482
• ISBN-13: 978-1464203480

Book Description

Dinah Pelerin has finally put her life in order. Living in Berlin with her boyfriend Thor, she has landed a job teaching Native American cultures at the university. She's never felt happier. And then her Seminole mother Swan shows up with a crazy scheme to blackmail a German tax dodger and dredges up a secret Dinah has kept hidden from the IRS and from straight-arrow Norwegian Thor, a former cop now with hush-hush international duties. Germans harbor a century-long fascination with the American Wild West and American Indians. Some enthusiasts dress up as Indians and adopt Indian names. Like Der Indianer Club which has invited Swan to a powwow where she plans to meet her blackmail victim. Dinah tries to head her off, but arrives at the scene too late. A man has been killed and scalped and Swan quickly becomes the prime suspect. Torn between love for her mother and dismay at her incessant lies, Dinah sets out to find the killer hoping the killer doesn't turn out to share her DNA. But Swan isn't the only liar. Everyone is lying about something. Margaret, Swan s dead ex-husband s former wife, come to the city with Swan. Dinah s teen-age ward. Thor. Especially Dinah. Ghosts of Germany's terrible history haunt Berlin while she faces exorcising a hateful ghost of her own."

Matthews’s intricately plotted fifth Dinah Pelerin mystery (after 2013’s Her Boyfriend’s Bones) finds the American anthropologist living happily in Berlin with her Norwegian lover, counterintelligence agent Thor Ramberg, and lecturing on Native American cultures at Humboldt University. Then Dinah’s Seminole mother, Swan Calms, and Margaret Dobbs, both of whom were once married to drug dealer Cleon Dobbs, arrive to do a “little detective job.” The two women are seeking money from a criminal partner of Cleon’s, Reiner Hess, who belongs to a local club devoted to American Indians. Two attempts to kill or injure Swan and Margaret increase the pressure on them to find the elusive Hess. When a member of the Indian club is shot and scalped at a drumming ceremony, Swan becomes the prime suspect. Dinah’s subsequent sleuthing may expose her own dark secrets. Matthews makes fine use of Berlin’s turbulent history and the enduring German fascination with Indian culture. (Publishers Weekly)

About the Author

Jeanne Matthews was born and raised in Georgia. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Journalism and has worked as a copywriter, a high school English and Drama teacher, and a paralegal. She currently lives in Renton, Washington with her husband, who is a law professor, and a West Highland terrier, who is a prima donna.

My Review

I have read several books in the Dinah Pelerin Mystery series and I have always enjoyed them. Where the Bones Are Buried is no exception. One thing you can always count on, when you read a Poisoned Pen Press book, you know it will be well written and have a great story.

Who knew that Germans were fascinated with Native Americans to the point where they have Indian Clubs and reenactments. I enjoyed the setting of Berlin in this novel because I haven't read a lot of contemporary novels that are set there. Dinah has the most craziest families imaginable. And that does make the novel interesting! And the secrets...amongst the family and between Dinah and her boyfriend Thor. Loved when Thor's secret showed up. Plenty of plot twists to keep the reader interested. The characters are all interesting but I had a bit of trouble keeping track of all the Germans. Great ending.

Another great book in this series. Already looking forward to the next one.