Dry Bones

By: Peter May

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

What happened to Jacques Gaillard? The brilliant teacher at the École Nationale d’Administration, who trained some of France’s best and brightest as future prime ministers and presidents, vanished ten years ago, presumably from Paris. This ten-year-old mystery inspires a bet—one that Enzo Macleod, a biologist teaching in Toulouse, France, instead of pursuing a brilliant career in forensics back home in Scotland, can ill afford to lose. The wager is that Enzo can find out what happened to Jacques Gaillard by applying new science to a cold case.

Enzo goes to Paris to meet journalist Roger Raffin, the author of a book on seven celebrated unsolved murders, the assumption being that Gaillard is dead. He needs Raffin’s notes, and armed with these, he begins his quest. It quickly has him touring landmarks such as the Paris catacombs and a château in Champagne, digging up relics and bones. Then Enzo finds the actual head of Jacques Gaillard. The artifacts buried with the skull set him to interpreting the clues they provide and following in someone’s footsteps—maybe more than one someone—seeking the rest of Gaillard’s remains and reviewing some ancient and recent history. As with any quest, it’s as much discovery as detection, and Enzo, despite all his missteps, proves to be an ace investigator, scientific and intuitive, who definitely meets his goals.

Peter May is a Scottish television screenwriter, novelist, and crime writer. He has won several literary awards for his novels.

©2006 Peter May (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“This travelogue-cum-murder mystery makes for a fun puzzle.” ( Publishers Weekly)

“A thoroughly engaging puzzle.” ( Library Journal)

How did I miss this great writer! So glad I I found him,I couldn't put it down

This is my kind of book. Great character development - of great characters! The plot is very creative with clever twist and turns. Brilliant ! I would recommend this book to British mystery lovers in general. If you like author Josephine Tey, Detective Morse and the like, I think you will appreciate this writer as well.
I was so impressed with this book ( I think it's a series) I'm about to order another book by this Author.

Fat paced but a little far fetched

In other reviews this book is compared to Dan Brown stories due to the treasure hunt type mystery but to me, it fell way short. I like stories where the characters have to put clues together which lead to more clues, but some of these clues really were a stretch. DNA tests were done in 24 hrs and he got permission to remove a fountain and dig up a public garden in the middle of the night? In what universe? I liked the characters so I may read the next in the series, but I hope it's a little more realistic.

Slow start...

But well worth hanging in there for the ending. It took me awhile to really get interested in this book but since Simon Vance is one of my favorite narrators, I gave the book a chance and he gave the story life.

Straightforward mystery that gets a bit derailed

Where does Dry Bones rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Far from a favorite, but worth the money I spent since it was on sale. Below average in entertainment, but also below average in price.

Would you be willing to try another book from Peter May? Why or why not?

I'd be hesitant to try another audio book from Peter May. Some parts of the book came out of nowhere; my wife, who doesn't listen to audio books, gave me a strange look when the book randomly moved to an explicit sex scene that was out of the character of the rest of the book. The story is supposed to be a mystery, and suddenly I was hearing about two middle aged people having sex in a lot of detail. That isn't appealing to me, and certainly isn't why I bought the book. The "what the heck are you listening to?!" look from my wife was amusing, though. Still, this part, as well as some other parts, seemed out of place. Hard to pin down who the author thought his audience was for some parts of the book. If the actual mystery story was genius, I might be able to look past random unrelated scenes (and I'm not just referring to sexually explicit ones), but it was a so-so mystery story to begin with. So I'd probably spend my money on another author.

What does Simon Vance bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I liked the skillful switching between Scottish and French accents. The narrator overall did a great job.

OK story, hated the protagonist

The story wasn't groundbreaking, but Simon Vance's narration made it a worthwhile, and sometimes even fun, listen. Rarely, however, have I experienced such a strong dislike of a character who was supposed to be the hero of the book. Enzo Macleod is described as being a "genius", but the mystery is solved by his friends and a lot of luck. In the meantime, he spends all his time whining and feeling sorry for himself, except when he is thinking about his 19-year old assistant's melon-like breasts. Not sure I could stand listening to another Enzo Macleod mystery, despite Simon Vance's excellent performance.

Very Good

Good characters, well written, intense story and unexpected bits of LOL humor. Starting another one right now.

Wonderful Mystery!

What did you love best about Dry Bones?

Everything! I have read other books by Peter May (Blackhouse series) and love the author. The story kept me interested and Simon Vance was terrific as the narrator.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Enzo. He is a forensic scientist, father, widower and a complex personality.

Which scene was your favorite?

Since I read the book several months ago, it is difficult to answer at this late date.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Not sure...sorry.

Any additional comments?

Great series for Bristish mystery lovers!

treasure hunt solvable mystery

a complex treasure hunt yet the information is there for the reader to solve it just ahead of the solution. good puzzle. likeable characters.

Forensicly Lacking

The flyleaf of this book promised "new science" applied to an old case. The implication being that Enzo's background as a forensic scientist will be critical to the solution of the case. The only "new science" I saw was DNA applied to blood. The remaining "new science" consisted of Google searches to find solutions to items left as puzzle clues. I do not think this defines "new science."
The gimmick of "un petit peu" of French words sprinkled throughout the book proved to be annoying to me as the book progressed.
The story relied on repetition of puzzle clues four times in the book which seemed overworked and too easily resolved.
The writing was good. The underlying story of Enzo and his love life and his daughters was interesting but very rudimentary.
The ending of the book came abruptly with the revealing of the villain, the daughters' relationship and Enzo's job resolving quickly but not before a overextended and tedious scene in the depths of Paris.
I will wait and explore other authors before I decide if another Enzo adventure will make it to my reading stack.

Simon Vance was outstanding with the delivery of the story.

Very enjoyable

This was, as some reviewers mentioned, similar to The DaVinci Code, only with much better writing. If you enjoy the progression of a series of obscure clues with a side trip to France, you'll like this. I wouldn't say it's great or even gripping, but it kept me interested and entertained, and I didn't see the end coming until exactly when the author wanted me to. My only quibble is that Simon Vance (who I would listen to reading a math textbook, he's so marvelous) could use a little work on his French pronunciation. His mistakes aren't egregious, only mildly distracting to a francophone. Overall I recommend this but was sad to see that the next one available via Audible is the fourth in the series, and like most mystery fans, I prefer to listen to a series in order.