The Ancient Dead is book 4 in Ottawa author Barbara Fradkin’s Amanda Doucette series. I’ve read almost all of her Inspector Green series now and chose this book because of my personal passion for archaeology as well as photography and the write-up for this one sounded right up my alley. It did not disappoint. The only thing is, I’ve once again jumped into a series that would be better read from book 1 so that I understand all the references to past activities and traumas. I will once again, skip back to the first book and start to read chronologically.
Having said that, the characters. While Amanda and her boyfriend, RCMP officer Chris Tymko, are the central figures to the story, we begin with photographer Todd Ellison, a down-on-his-luck kind of guy whose first marriage failed, whose career as a journalist disillusioned him, and who is currently trekking around the Alberta badlands photographing the shabby historical remains of the past and the haunting beauty of the western landscape. When he chances on an almost hidden coulee (the remains of large rivers that once flowed across the landscape leaving an often deep ravine but now hold small streams or spring and winter runoff) where he discovers a bone protruding from the hot sand, his imagination immediately runs wild. Dinosaur bone? Bison? Human? Laws prohibiting excavation of bones without permission are severe in Alberta, so Todd merely takes photos and leaves the bone where it lay.
Amanda is in Alberta to organize a tour opportunity for high school students from an Indigenous community in the north of the province in order to familiarize them with the vastness of the land, the history of it, and the beauty of it. It is a charity intended to open them up to new friendships and new ideas and opportunities as they prepare to plan a future career. When Chris, wearing western gear, tips his hat for a photo op in front of a dilapidated homestead, Amanda is reminded of a similar shot framed above the bed in the spare room of her Aunt Jean.
The two strands slowly merge as Todd’s discovery turns out to be human remains and Amanda begins a quest for her Uncle Jonny who has not been heard from for 30 years and she fears the body might be either his or, as the adventure continues, possibly someone he has killed.
The story is full of Alberta landscape: hoodoos, mesas, oil rigs, rolling prairies, dinosaur digs, and white water rafting as Amanda works with various organizations, including the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller. As Todd and Amanda, separately at first, follow leads, a young reporter Todd is collaborating with is assaulted and both sleuths are frustrated at the lack of information forthcoming from the police and concerned because they feel they are being followed.
This is a fascinating book not only because of the mystery surrounding the remains in the coulee but as we learn more about the socioeconomic effects of the oil industry, the Indigenous education system, the Canadian Pacific Railway, arcane attitudes towards women, and the settling of the prairies where homesteaders faced many difficulties not the least of which were adverse weather conditions year round. The descriptions of the landscape transport the reader to time and place. The characters are well drawn and you can’t help feeling Amanda’s frustration with the stonewalling of the police, her confusion as people are trying to stop her from discovering the truth and her hope that the trail will lead to her Uncle Jonny being alive and well. A fast and excellent read. *****