This time, Daisy’s assignment and body occur in the British Museum, the Natural History branch. While Daisy is working on her story and trying to keep her nephew and future step-daughter out of trouble at the museum, she runs across a very odd cast of characters: the Mineral Keeper, Dr. Pettigrew, the head of Fossil Reptiles, a dinosaur expert, an anthropologist and the curator of fossils. Also ever present is the hovering Duke of Transcarpathia who is attempting to reclaim one of the museum’s rubies for his country.

When Dr. Pettigrew is murdered, it is Daisy who stumbles across his body among smashed Pareiasaurus bones, something the head of Fossil Reptiles seems more concerned about than Pettigrew’s death. Actually, there are not too many people weeping over his death, leaving Scotland Yard -- and Daisy -- with a large pool of suspects.

Despite Scotland Yard’s best efforts, Daisy once again puts the clues together faster and more intuitively and figures out the culprit first. Unable to take the stress of Daisy’s investigations much longer, Alec proposes they marry right away, most likely with the hopes of being able to keep a closer eye on Daisy, preventing her from finding so many dead bodies.

While Rattle his Bones is filled with an eccentric cast of characters, perhaps tweaking the museum crowd and related professionals, all of whom take themselves and their areas of expertise very seriously, the characters are so overdrawn, they have become caricatures and make for a muddled read rather than a light, humorous one. Also, the cockney accent several museum employees have, the cold Sergeant Tring has and the Duke of Transcarpathia’s accent are written as one would assume they sound and are more times than not a distraction to the dialogue rather than an enhancement.

The mystery in the book is a good one, whether it is trying to figure out who killed Pettigrew or why. Even though there are few surprises in the end, Daisy’s final revelation as she puts it all together and her mad dash to catch the culprit before he concludes his crime contain enough suspense to sustain the book until the end.

While not for everyone, fans of anthropology will find a lot to enjoy and Daisy fans will be anxious to learn when the wedding will take place. Despite the slow start, Rattle His Bones finishes up with a strong conclusion and the promise of a wedding.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry