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The Ancient Dead: An Amanda Doucette Mystery

Barbara Fradkin (Goodreads Author)

3.69 · Rating details · 13 ratings · 7 reviews

Amanda Doucette searches desperately for the connection between bones discovered in a remote Alberta coulee and an uncle who went missing thirty years ago.

Photographer Todd Ellison is engrossed in a photo shoot deep in Alberta’s dinosaur country when he stumbles upon human bones buried in the sand of a remote coulee. Not far away, while driving through the Alberta prairie, ...more

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Paperback, 344 pages

Expected publication: January 26th 2021 by Dundurn Press

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Sep 08, 2020 Carolyn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Thank you NetGalley and Dundurn Press for the advanced copy of The Ancient Dead in return for an honest review. I had read the three previous Amanda Doucette books by Barbara Fradkin with much enjoyment, and I regret this was not as compelling for me.

Photographer Todd Ellison is on a photo shoot that includes remote farmlands and the dry landscape. He is now in dinosaur territory where many ancient reptiles were buried. He hopes to add a photo of a dinosaur bone (or at least one of a buffalo) t Thank you NetGalley and Dundurn Press for the advanced copy of The Ancient Dead in return for an honest review. I had read the three previous Amanda Doucette books by Barbara Fradkin with much enjoyment, and I regret this was not as compelling for me.

Photographer Todd Ellison is on a photo shoot that includes remote farmlands and the dry landscape. He is now in dinosaur territory where many ancient reptiles were buried. He hopes to add a photo of a dinosaur bone (or at least one of a buffalo) to a book he intends to publish. When he finds a bone, he learns it was not from an ancient animal but human remains buried about 30 years earlier.

There was much to admire in the book. The vivid portrayal of the prairies and its people gave a strong visual impression and the plot was well executed. I thought it slow-paced. I found the protagonist, Amanda, pushy and annoying but many readers will admire her conviction and determination.

Amanda is in Alberta preparing for an adventure and educational experience for a group of Indigenous youngsters from the far north. The dry fields and abandoned farmhouses remind her of a photo on her aunt's wall. The photo depicted a young man standing in front of a similar building. Her aunt tells her this was a picture of her uncle who was left home and he was in this area after a family dispute. He has not been heard from since. Amanda becomes obsessed with discovering what happened to him.

I was bothered by her aggressive, personal search for answers. This lead to her intruding into people's lives, dredging up painful memories, secrets, and profound sorrows. Her work preparing for and participating in the children's foundation activities took second place. She demanded that her boyfriend, Chris, an RCMP officer, use his position and connections to investigate and find answers for her. She also used her friend, Matthew, in the same way. She met Matthew when she was an aid worker in the worlds' trouble spots and he was a foreign correspondent. He now helps Amanda run the charitable foundation. Both men seemed reluctant to be pushed into helping her investigate her uncle Jonathan's mysterious disappearance from the vicinity 30 years earlier. They adored her and couldn't refuse her demands.

It was learned that Jonathan had been seeing a young woman from a wealthy oil family. She was fired from her job and he quit protest. They both disappeared but not together. When Amanda learns of the body unearthed from the coulee, she fears it is Uncle Jonathan and is determined to find out who killed him.

In the meantime, a young reporter has been attacked in her apartment. She had been near death and was researching a story involving the man's death. Todd's information is in her missing computer and he fears a similar attack. Amanda keeps making assumptions about the case. She is on the wrong track with her theories. The police have warned her to stop interfering in their murder case.

Now she is being followed by a man in a white vehicle and fears he plans to harm her. The car is identified to belong to a Private Investigator from BC. Why is he spying on her, and who can be paying him? It is obvious that someone does not want the true facts surrounding the probable murder to be revealed. There is a violent and surprising ending that concludes in the solution to the mystery.

I will read more books about Amanda Doucette. I just hope she learns to relax more in her pursuits. ...more

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Sep 05, 2020 Joyce rated it really liked it · review of another edition

328 pages

4 stars

Having visited Alberta several times, the descriptions of the land and its inhabitants resonated with me. It is exactly as Ms. Fradkin describes. I simply love it.

A photographer out on a walking trip near Drumheller in Alberta to take pictures for his upcoming book stumbles on some bones. He doesn't even know what kind they are until a friend and he return to the site and discover that they are human.

At the same time, Amanda Doucette is scouting the area and planning her next t ...more

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Nov 22, 2020 Daphne Sharpe rated it liked it

The Ancient Dead.
This thriller is set in Alberta, Canada, and the descriptions of this vast country and various areas are fascinating!
Todd Ellison, a photographer, discovers a bone buried in an area where Dinosaur bones have previously been found, but this bone is human.
Amanda Doucette, also in Alberta, sees an abandoned house, that reminds her of a photograph on the wall of her Aunts house, that shows a young man standing in front of the building. Her Aunt reluctantly confirms that the man is ...more

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Sep 19, 2020 Hannelore Cheney rated it really liked it

Thank you NetGalley and Dundurn Press for the eARC.
Amanda Doucette is in Alberta getting ready to take one of her educational trips with indigenous youth when bones are discovered near where she and her love, Chris (who is with the RCMP), are spending some much needed time together. The bones are found to be human and about 30 years old and Amanda believes they may be those of a long lost uncle.
The descriptions of the landscape are fantastic, so wild and forbidding and, so fascinating!, full of ...more

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Jan 05, 2021 Jayne rated it really liked it

This novel opens with a love song to the prairies’ people, places, and history. Set partly amid the Drumheller hoodoos, the mystery starts with a dinosaur bone hunt and delves into the dusty secrets of a prairie ranching family. When the secrets spill over to include a ancient mystery in series lead Amanda Doucette's own family, she can't resist their pull even though it's costing her holiday time with her main squeeze.

Although well-grounded in the present, the plot has thirty-year old roots tha ...more

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Sep 26, 2020 Tayler Hill rated it liked it

I was excited to see a book set in Canada, especially a murder mystery. This book kept me interested throughout the whole thing. I needed to keep reading to find out how it would end. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the main female character. I found her annoying at times. This Is also definitely a cozy mystery. In itself there is nothing wrong with that, but I prefer darker mysteries and as such I might not have enjoyed it as much as someone who usually goes for cozy mysteries. I’d give it more lik ...more

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Oct 28, 2020 Louise Gray rated it really liked it

This mystery is so well developed and the detail so precise that I thought it was a true crime book. Entirely credible, every character was realistic - and often unlikable - and I found myself fully invested in reaching the outcome. The author is insightful and the writing crisp - very accessible for all readers who love a good mystery.

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About Barbara Fradkin

Barbara Fradkin

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Barbara Fradkin (nee Currie), an award-winning Canadian mystery writer and retired psychologist whose work with children and families provides ample inspiration for murder. She is fascinated by the dark side and by the desperate choices people make.

Her novels are gritty, realistic, and psychological, with a blend of mystery and suspense. She is the author of three series, including ten novels feat ...more