The Ariadne Clue by Carol Clemeau



Bad police work and bad dialogue

Synopsis:

 A history graduate student whose focus is on the Minoan culture has disappeared (along with some priceless artifacts from the University Museum), and is both presumed dead by the police (unofficially) and is the prime suspect in the museum robbery. The police have 7 suspects, including the dedicated heroine of the story, history professor Antonia Nielsen. We follow along with Nielsen as she searches for her star protege and friend.

 My review:

 The mystery was good in that I was surprised at the murderer (and it made sense), but it was bad in that I felt that it was written rather oddly. The book was set in an American college campus but the whole feel and texture of the book said "England." The characters spoke like they were from England but trying to speak like Americans. It really was rather disconcerting and at one point I had to go back and re-read the first few pages to make sure that the book was actually set in the United States.

 The book also had a major problem in that the police, who were supposed to have done a thorough job looking for this missing girl and the missing artifacts should have solved the whole mystery in a single afternoon. I don't want to give away any more than that.

I rate this book 2 stars out of a possible 5 stars.

 This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Ariadne Clue by Carol Clemeau.

 Reviewed on June 28, 2004

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