Old Bones

Michael Payne is the City of Edmonton archivist and the co-author of A
Narrative History of Fort Dunvegan.

Old Bones begins with the accidental discovery of a body in the
submerged wreck of a truck. Around the same time RCMP Constable Jack
Marsden starts to investigate the half-century-old mystery, a retired
professor named Emily Muller (who has just learned that she has terminal
cancer) finds skeletal remains in her beloved garden. Wishing to live
out the rest of her days in relative serenity, she is reluctant to
report her discovery. As it turns out, the two mysteries are
intertwined. The resolution of the story hinges on a chance encounter
and a possible connection between Constable Marsden and Professor
Muller.

In many respects, Old Bones is less about unidentified bodies than it
is about how circumstances and coincidences shape people and their
relationships. The author does a good job of drawing together the
complicated strands of the plot, leaving readers with a sense that some
mysteries do not need to be solved through forensics or courts of law.