Most Popular Books by Aaron Elkins

The Skeleton Detective is back. A cold case dating from the 1960s draws forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver to the Channel Islands decades later to shine a light on the mysterious connection between two men who died there on the same night. Swapped as young boys by their fathers during the Nazi occupation, wealthy Roddy Carlisle and middle-class George Skinner had some readjusting to do after the war ended--but their lives remained linked through work, trouble with the law, and finally, it would seem, through murder. Nobody expects that Gideon''s modern-day investigation will turn up fresh bodies. But old bones tell many tales, and the Skeleton Detective has to be at his sharpest to piece together the truth before the body count mounts still higher. Declared "a series that never disappoints" by the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Gideon Oliver mystery series is highly recommended for fans of Agatha Christie and Kathy Reichs.

Golfer Lee Ofsted is invited to join the Stewart Cup Competition and becomes involved in murder.

Art curator Val Caruso is not a happy camper. His promotion has just been nixed, his divorce has become final, and he''s dug himself into a nice little rut for his fortieth birthday. The uplift? A trip to Milan to help Holocaust survivor Sol Bezzecca recover a pair of cherished sketches by Renoir. They''d once been given to Sol''s family by the then-unknown artist, looted by the Italian Fascist militia, and now after decades in hiding have turned up for auction. It''s Val''s job to get them back. The trip takes a dangerous turn thanks to an intricate web that reaches back to World War II-- and someone among the art thieves and forgers wants Val out of the picture-- permanently.

Chris Norgren, museum curator and Renaissance art expert, heads to Berlin to assist in mounting a sensational exhibit: The Plundered Past--twenty priceless Old Masters looted by the Nazis, thought for decades to be lost forever, and only recently rediscovered. But things quickly get out of hand when Chris''s patrician, fastidious boss, after smelling a forgery in the lot, turns up dead the very next day--on the steps of a dismal Frankfurt brothel, of all places. Now Chris faces two daunting tasks: finding a fake painting among the masterpieces, and a real killer whose sights are now set on him.

Bryan Bennet must grapple with his own past and deepest terrors when his boss asks him to teach his corporate level kidnapping and extortion seminar in Iceland in this new thriller from the Edgar Award-winning creator of the Gideon Oliver series.

Professor of anthropology Gideon Oliver, and his wife Julie, take a much-needed holiday in Italy. Their friend Phil has invited them to his family''s island in Lake Maggiore. But the breathtaking view and sumptuous food come at a price. When some bones are unearthed in the locality, Colonel Caravale of the CARABINIERI calls on Gideon''s expertise. Knowing that his host''s son has been kidnapped, Gideon sets out to identify the bones. But along the way, he exposes some deceptions that lay bare the malignant, long-hidden secrets at the dark heart of a highborn family.

Buried ceremoniously, high in a cave on the Rock of Gibraltar, lies the skeleton of a human woman, clutching the skeleton of a part-human, part-Neanderthal child. Fascinated, Professor Oliver jumps at the chance to visit the site. But two deaths, possibly murders, have rocked Gibraltar. As Oliver tries to piece things together, he''s about to fall for some deadly tricks. After all, unlike the Gibraltar Boy, he''s only human.