Artifacts: 1 (Faye Longchamp Archaeological Mysteries) - Softcover

Evans, Mary Anna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1464208581 ISBN 13: 9781464208584

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 2017

Synopsis

First in a series of archaeological mysteries featuring Faye Longchamp, who uncovers more than artifacts from the past.

"A haunting, atmospheric story." -P.J. Parrish, New York Times bestselling author

Faye Longchamp has lost nearly everything except her determination to hang onto Joyeuse, a moldering plantation hidden along the Florida coast. No one knows how Faye's great-great-grandmother Cally, a newly freed slave barely out of her teens, came to own Joyeuse in the aftermath of the Civil War or how her descendants hung onto it through Reconstruction, world wars, the Depression, and Jim Crow. But Faye has inherited the family tenacity. When the property taxes rise beyond her means, she sets out to save Joyeuse by digging for artifacts on her property and selling them on the black market.

But instead of pot shards and arrowheads, she uncovers a woman's shattered skull. If Faye reports the 40-year-old murder, she'll reveal her illegal livelihood, risk jail...and Joyeuse. So she probes into the dead woman's history, unaware that the past is rushing toward her like a hurricane across deceptively calm Gulf waters....

Winner of the 2004 Benjamin Franklin award in Mystery/Suspense

About this title

Review:

"There are two mysteries included in Mary Anna Evans' first book along with a wealth of information on archaeological digs, legitimate and stealthy. The primary one involves a skull, complete with 60's style earring, and the murder of two graduate students close by. Sounds like a straight forward, follow the dots and connect the two, doesn't it? Well, this is where it gets complicated. The skull was discovered by Faye Longchamp while illegally pothunting on Federal Land. Fearing arrest if she admits what she was doing when she found the skull, Faye is afraid to report her find.

This brings us to the second mystery. Faye is the last of her family and sole owner of the family home, Joyeuse, a plantation hidden away on a small island off the coast of Florida. Faye, an archaeological student who knows better, has been illegally digging and selling artifacts, trying desperately to raise money to pay the back taxes and keep Joyeuse. The plantation came to Faye through her great-great grandmother, Cally, a newly freed slave. How and why Cally came by Joyeuse is the second mystery Faye feels compelled to solve.

Mary Anna Evans tells a good story. She fills ARTIFACTS with interesting people, not the least of whom is Faye Longchamp. The hunt in the past for the identification of the forty year old murder victim -- who she was and why she was killed and her body secreted -- involves Faye in a past where a murderer still lurks, determined that no one will uncover the truth. The two graduate students are archaeological students, so we become involved with Faye's former teacher and the rest of the members of the archaeological dig.

You will enjoy this book for the mystery storyand the interesting history and archaeological information the author freely dispenses. Books from Poisoned Pen Press are always a good bet with an interesting twist be it a new author or an almost forgotten one." I Love a Mystery

"The shifting little isles along the Florida Panhandle--hurricane-wracked bits of land filled with plenty of human history--serve as the effective backdrop for Evans's debut, a tale of greed, archaeology, romance and murder.... Readers should welcome this strong new sleuth."  -- Publishers Weekly   "You will enjoy this book for the mystery story and the interesting history and archaeological information the author freely dispenses. Books from Poisoned Pen Press are always a good bet with an interesting twist be it a new author or an almost forgotten one."     --  I Love a Mystery   "First-novelist Evans introduces a strong female sleuth in this extremely promising debut, and she makes excellent use of her archaeological subject matter, weaving past and present together in a multi-layered, compelling plot."    -- Booklist   "Artifacts is a haunting, atmospheric story in which a mysterious island hol

"The shifting little isles along the Florida Panhandle--hurricane-wracked bits of land filled with plenty of human history--serve as the effective backdrop for Evans's debut, a tale of greed, archaeology, romance and murder.... Readers should welcome this strong new sleuth." -- Publishers Weekly "You will enjoy this book for the mystery story and the interesting history and archaeological information the author freely dispenses. Books from Poisoned Pen Press are always a good bet with an interesting twist be it a new author or an almost forgotten one." -- I Love a Mystery "First-novelist Evans introduces a strong female sleuth in this extremely promising debut, and she makes excellent use of her archaeological subject matter, weaving past and present together in a multi-layered, compelling plot." -- Booklist "Artifacts is a haunting, atmospheric story in which a mysterious island holds the clue to long-buried family secrets. Mary Anna Evans brings passion and insight to her subject and has written a modern southern gothic novel about a biracial woman's search for her heritage." -- PJ Parrish, Edgar nominee and New York Times best-selling author

"A fresh contemporary protagonist, Faye Longchamp gives the phrase 'scraping to get by' a whole different meaning. Past and present merge in an intriguing story ably demonstrating that Miami doesn't have a monopoly on murder in Florida." -- Aileen Schumacher, Anthony award nominated author

About the Author:

Mary Anna Evans is the author of the Faye Longchamp archaeological mysteries, which have received recognition including the Benjamin Franklin Award, the Mississippi Author Award, and three Florida Book Awards bronze medals. She is an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma, where she teaches fiction and nonfiction writing.

Check out her website, enewsletter, facebook author page, and twitter.

Winner of the 2018 Sisters in Crime (SinC) Academic Research Grant

About this edition

• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1464208581
• ISBN 13: 9781464208584
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304