The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

Mystery Books with Anthropologists and Archaeologists as Their Sleuths…

Angela just asked if I could add a new theme to the site which features “archaeology/anthropology based series“>>> so here goes! (Remember that I am only including authors who are posted on the Cozy Mystery Site. I am sure that there are many other authors who write mysteries which feature anthropologists and archaeologists…)

Margot Arnold: Penny Spring & Sir Toby Glendower Mystery Series… set in Great Britain, has both anthropologist and archaeologist as the sleuths.

Aileen G. Baron: The Lily Sampson Mystery Series features an archaeology graduate student in the early to mid 1900s.

Jefferson Bass: Body Farm Series … Dr. Bill Brockton works at the Tennessee body farm. (not Cozy)

Dana Cameron: Emma Fielding Mystery Series…Emma is a New England archaeologist/professor.

Barbara Cleverly: Laetitia Talbot Mystery Series…set in France after WWI, the sleuth is an archaeologist.

Beverly Connor: Diane Fallon Forensic Investigations Mystery Series (anthropologist) AND Lindsay Chamberlain Archaeology Mystery Series

Aaron Elkins: Gideon Oliver Mystery Series… Elkins, a former anthropologist has as his sleuth, a professor of anthropology.

Mary Anna Evans: Faye Longchamp Mystery Series… Faye is an archaeologist on the Florida Gulf Coast.

Lyn Hamilton: Archaeological Mystery Series: Lara McClintoch is a Canadian antiques dealer.

Erin Hart: Nora Gavin/Cormac Maguire Mystery Series: Nora is a forensic anthropologist and Coramc is an archaeologist.

Rett MacPherson: Torie O’Shea Mystery Series… Torie is a genealogist who uses a little anthropology, archaeology, & history in her searches.

Sharyn McCrumb: Elizabeth MacPherson Mystery Series… sleuth is a forensic anthropologist.

J. Michael Orenduff: Pot Thief Mystery Series… sleuth is a treasure hunter.

Elizabeth Peters (aka Barbara Mertz & Barbara Michaels: Amelia Peabody Mystery Series… a British Egyptologist/archaeologist.

Kathy Reichs: Temperance Brennan Mystery Series… (Not Cozy) the basis of the Fox show Bones… forensic anthropologist in Quebec.

Lynda S. Robinson: While the Lord Meren Mystery Series does not feature an archaeologist or anthropologist, the author of this ancient Egyptian mystery series holds a PhD in anthropology (emphasis on archaeology).

Sarah R. Shaber: Professor Simon Shaw Mystery Series… Simon is a history professor, and there is a little archaeology and anthropology thrown into the mysteries.

Malcolm Shuman: Alan Graham Mystery Series… Alan is a contract archaeologist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

♦ To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link ♦

Comments

  2. Love the Amelia Peabody series…..

    Another fun series is actually a children’s series by R.L. LeFevers. Theodosia Throckmorton is a little girl who lives with her father who is curator (or director?) of the museum of antiquities. She is an amateur archaeologist who finds all sorts of mystery and trouble.

    Reply

  4. Diana O’Hehir writes a nice series with a daughter and her Egyptologist father (who is suffering from Alzheimer’s).

    Reply

  6. Beverly Connor has two series featuring a forensic anthropologist, Diane Fallon and one featuring forensic anthropologist who specializes in archaeology, Lindsay Chamberlain. Both of these are superb mysteries.

    Reply

  8. I’m trying to recall the author of this series, and would appreciate help from you and your readers. IF I remember it correctly, it’s a series that came out at least since 1996 (or later) in which a female who works either in anthropology or with Native American artifacts in a western U.S. state. She found clues to a hidden mine (gold or silver maybe???) and one of the books had a really old map in it that she traced. I think there were at least three books or more in the series. Any clues? Thanks. SARA

    Reply

    • I have also been seeking the author of this same series! Has anyone been able to provide resolution? Thanks!

      Reply

        • This is for ANNIE who had the same question as I. SOLVED!!! The author of these books is Judith Van Giesen. The book that I was looking for originally when I posted the query is called “Vanishing Point” published in 2001. It is still available online and at used bookstores. I found it quite by accident and was thrilled to finally get reacquainted with the books by Van Giesen. Happy hours ahead….
          Sara

          Reply

  12. I have a favorite author for you to add to this theme. Her name is Beverly Connor and she writes two different series that have anthropologists as protagonists. The first is the Lindsey Chamberlain series and the second is Diane Fallon series. These are well written with type and varied plots.

    Reply

    • Sara, can you believe it has been over a year that you first posted your question about this author? Once you asked the question, Annie said she also wanted to know who the author is. I posted an entry asking for the information you were seeking, and here are the answers we had for your question:

      Suzy: “Sarah Andrews writes a series about a geologist. Would that be the one you are looking for?”

      Carrie: “Beverly Connor, Patricia Cornwell, Jefferson Bass and Kathy Reichs have all written mysteries involving anthropology. Could it be one of those?”

      Vickie B: “I think Carrie is right, Beverly Connor has two series and one of them is a forensic anthropoligist. ‘Lyndsay Chamberlain’ is the one out in the field and the series I am thinking is what Sara is looking for.”

      I hope the author you have been looking for is one of the above authors.

      Reply

    • Thank you, Elly, for telling us about Beverly Connor.

      She is currently not on the list of archaeology/anthropology themes because she is not on the Cozy Mystery site. (I only list those authors who are on the site, since I’m not familiar with every mystery author.)

      Reply

  18. Sorry for the bluntness, the second half of my message somehow disappeared…a mystery in itself. A few months ago a friend sent me Dead Secret thinking I might like the caving done by the protagonist. There are two series and I have now read all of Ms. Connor’s books. Great detail on forensics, history, and engaging women characters kept me wanting another of her books. Thank you for posting and I hope you will read this series I think others will enjoy too.

    Reply

  19. Forgive me for hogging the blog with a third message, but obvious to all, I hadn’t read the blog before posting. Now I see that there are a few Beverly Connor posts ahead of me. I hope someone will pass this and your very wonderful website along to Ms. Connor. If I were an author of mysteries, being on this list would mean that I had really made it!

    Reply

  20. Thanks for the list. Always looking for more authors with this theme. I have a couple authors to add if you would like; Elly Griffiths and Jefferson Bass

    Reply

  22. Dear All

    Thanks so much for the list and the information that you have put on this blog. My degree is in anthropology emphasis on the archaeology. I love this sub genre of the cosy’s. You have given me a few more names to check out. Of course there are also the classic writers who have links with archaeology and have set books with this theme such as Agatha Christie and Gladys Mitchell. Thanks again for the great work everyone. Going to look out for the Connor and Van Giesen’s here in Oz.

    Reply

    • Andrea, you are so right about the Golden Age of Mystery authors who wrote mysteries in this theme.

      Reply

  24. Agree with the comments about the Dr. Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths. They feature a contemporary professor of forensic archaeology working in Norfolk, on the east coast of England, who keeps getting drawn into murder investigations that involve historic burial sites dating from the stone age through WWII and usually gets herself into life-threatening peril along the way. The books are both suspenseful and funny.

    I discovered the series recently (OK, my wife discovered it and told me about it), and read all six that are currently available in the space of two weeks (Griffiths writes fast; she seems to come out with about two books a year). Very excited for the next one, which is coming out soon (in May 2015), and found this thread looking for similar books to tide me over until then. Great suggestions here, thanks!

    Reply

  25. I just discovered this list. My undergraduate degree is in History and I love mysteries, so archaeology and anthropology mysteries are among my very favorites. There are several authors listed here that I haven’t read, so I’m off to Amazon as soon as I finish this post. There are a couple of series I really enjoy that aren’t listed here. Malcolm Shuman has a series featuring Alan Graham, a contract archaeologist in Baton Rouge, LA. Rett MacPherson’s Torie O’Shea series isn’t, strictly speaking, about an archaeologist/anthropologist, but it loosely fits into the category and is a very good cozy series. Torie is a genealogist, so there’s a bit of anthropology and a bit of archaeology and a lot of history in these books. Another good cozy series is Sarah Shaber’s Simon Shaw books. He’s a history professor, but there’s some archaeology and anthropology involved in these mysteries, too. Jefferson Bass has the Body Farm series, featuring Dr. Bill Brockton, at the body farm in TN. These are decidedly NOT cozies, but are somewhat similar in style to Kathy Reichs’ books.

    Reply

  26. Take a look at books by Elly Griffiths. They are set in South east England and involve a forensic archaeologist. A really can’t put down series of books.

    Reply

  27. Looking for a crime novel where the female lead protagonist is an archeologist or paleontologist, not really sure. Old people are being killed in a family because of some manuscripts. Would really appreciate some help. Thanks.

    Reply

  28. Hello! I am looking for a book I read as a kid. It has a leading female character, young, and she is an archeaologist or an egyptologist. She travels to Egypt for a reason I do not recall, and she gets herself in a lot of problems, deadly ones (people trying to kill her, she gets locked up inside a chamber in a pyramid). I believe that the novel is set in the 1980s, or maybe the 1970s. Do you have any information that can help my research?
    PS: it is not the Amelia Peabody series.
    Thank you so much.

    Reply

    • AC, do you know what year you might have read the book first? Also, was it a children’s/young adult book, or something intended for adults? Also, I’m assuming from what you have said that more fantastical elements like time travel or Egyptian deities are not featured.

      I will admit, my first guess would have been something in the Amelia Peabody series. But I have a few other possible guesses – The Buried Pyramid, by Jane Lindskold, would be one guess. Another might be The Pyramid of Doom by Andy McDermott. However, both of these are only about 20 years old so they might be too modern depending on when you think you might have read it, and don’t match every element of what you’re suggesting.

      Reply

      • Hello Dana! Thank you so much for reply!
        It was indeed a book intended for adults. I was around 12 (early 90s) when I read it. The plot involved also antiques traffic mobs; the lead character was abducted, but then she escapes.
        I asked Bard (Google´s IA), and it mentioned a book by wilbur smith, with a female character named Sarah Cameron who travels to Egypt to investigate her father´s death. But I was not able to find that book online, nor related info on that novel by that author.
        Thank you again!

        Reply

        • AC, sorry about the delay on this reply… I put this up as part of a questions post on the front blog page. Several suggestions have come in – the Vicky Bliss series and the stand-alone novel The Jackal’s Head, both by Elizabeth Peters, or The Sphinx, by Robin Cook. Hopefully one of these (or another later post) will give you a solution!

          Reply

  29. Archeological thrillers are my favorite subgenres! Three series I am reading through: Ernest Dempsey Sean Wyatt series, J Robert Kennedy James Acton series, and David S Brody’s Templars In America series. The 3 series are very different even though the various relics often occur in all three; enough so that they are not derivative at all.

    All three have great storylines, excellent recurring characters, and are well written.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Please don't tell us about Cozy Mystery authors or books you don't enjoy.

Please use a nickname or your first name and last initial (unless you are an author and want your full name to appear).

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

MENU