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Carnosaur Crimes    by Christine Gentry Amazon.com order for
Carnosaur Crimes
by Christine Gentry
Order:  USA  Can
Poisoned Pen, 2005 (2005)
Hardcover
*   Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth

Part Amerindian Paleoartist Ansel Phoenix is definitely involved when a burnt body is found dangling from the jaws of her life-sized Allosaurus replica outside the Big Toe Natural History Museum in Montana. The Bureau of Land Management, local police and the FBI seem to be all involved in investigating this death. Ansel is asked to give the FBI a hand in capturing fossil thieves using a fake fossil buy, because her Indian blood makes her not too obvious a plant.

The plot of Carnosaur Crime is a good one. It just seems to take a while to get to the meat of the story. I felt at times I should be taking notes for a college course, given the amount of information I was wading through. It is interesting information, and mostly new to me. Fascinating, really. But it didn't seem to further the story that I was sure was in there. And was it! Wow. The action picked up and gathered suspense along the way, making the second half of the book hard to put down. Dead bodies abounded and the umbrage I felt at the fossil-stealing thieves kept my adrenaline flowing. I like Ansel - ready to do whatever she feels is necessary - and a tinge of romance was a bonus.

Overall, I found Carnosaur Crime well-written but with a little too much of straight facts for my taste.

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