Two mysteries at once. Historian Clint has come to archaeologist Nora to help him find his ancestors at the lost camp of the Donner Party, a group that perished snowbound in the mountains, but not before eating each other to stay alive. She goes to the institute who is willing to finance the expedition because of rumored gold buried there as well.
Newly minted FBI agent, Corrie, Pendergast’s charge, is given the job of finding out who is stealing bones from old coffins, and targeting only those with a certain bloodline.
The two mysteries become tied together, and it’s a page turning ride up to the end. It was interesting to learn about the latest in archaeology tools, and to meet back up with Nora and Corrie, both from previous novels. I highly recommend.

I read this in one day, totally enthralled. OLD BONES is the first in the new Nora Kelly series. Long-time fans of Preston and Child's Agent Pendergast Series will remember the feisty and strong-willed Nora as a museum curator and archaeologist. Now working in Santa Fe, Nora is approached by a historian who has discovered a long-lost diary by the wife of George Donner, of the tragic Donner Party. He persuades the Institute at which Nora is employed to search for the "Lost Camp," an offshoot of the main Donner Party which became lost and snowbound in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.


OLD BONES also stars Agent Pendergast's protege Corinne Swanson on her debut FBI investigation. Her clashes with the equally strong-willed Nora Kelly and the Institute"s Director, Dr. Jill Fugit, create a lot of fireworks. For history buffs, there's a plethora; and for thriller and mystery addicts, you'll stay riveted.

I’ve been reading Preston and Child for a couple of decades now and I’m excited to see that, in this book at least, they have returned to the style they used in book like Relic and The Ice Limit. In this story, a man approaches archaeologist Nora Kelly with the offer of a lifetime. He has in his possession, the journal of a distant family member, a woman who was part of the ill fated Donner Party. The group of settlers, stranded over winter in a mountain pass resorted to cannibalism to stay alive. While two the the party’s camps have already been thoroughly excavated, the third “lost” camp has never been found. A journal with the exact location of the lost camp is now in Nora’s possession, and not only will she and her team get the chance to find answers to questions 150 years in the making, they also learn that there may be millions of dollars in gold buried at the sight. This is the best kind of escapist reading and unlike other action/adventure stories, there are no swaggering male protagonists here (hooray!)