The Mystery of the Bones - Snow & Winter, Book Four

After waiting as long as I possibly could, I finally sat down to read the fourth, and sadly, the FINAL, book in the Snow & Winter mystery series by C.S. Poe.  It is always a sad thing for me when I series I enjoy so much comes to an end, and there is always this small bit of hope in me that the author will change their mind and continue the series (unfortunately, though, in this case, it has not yet happened).  But, I could put it off no long, as I wanted to see what mystery could possibly top the last three unusual, historical artifact-related murder mysteries and how Sebastian Snow would solve it.

The Mystery of the Bones celebrates the one-year anniversary of Sebastian Snow meeting Calvin Winter during that whole crazy fiasco with the Poe-related crime.  Christmas time is just about here, and Seb and Cal are planning their wedding (or, rather, Seb is planning it and Cal is just along for the ride).  Sebastian has made a promise to no longer snoop into any more murder mysteries, and it's a promise he intends to keep.  Until Seb receives a mysterious box delivered to his antique shop.  A box with a horrid stench coming from it.  A box that contains a decapitated head. And try as he might (and boy, does he try to stay out of it), Sebastian Snow finds himself once more trying to track down a deadly killer with an unhealthy obsession with antiques - this time, bones.  Or, more specifically, the skull of one Edward Drinker Cope.

Poe once again utilizes real historical material to craft a wickedly good murder mystery.  The mysterious notes that arrive with the boxes (yes, Seb does receive another box or two...) are written intentionally Spencerian script with late nineteenth century verbage that ultimately strikes a chord with him - the Bone Wars.  I had to look it up, and sure enough, it turns out "the Bone Wars" was a real period of time during which there was a race to dig up fossils of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. The two most recognized names associated with the War are Edward Drinker Cope of Philadelphia and Othniel Charles Marsh from Yale.  Needless to say, Poe utilizes these men and their rivalry within the story, as a murdering maniac calling himself The Collector sets forth the most obscure clues that leads Sebastian on a quest to figure out not only what he is looking for, but where it can be found, and to whom it should be delivered.  At first, he tries to ignore it, despite that gnawing sensation within to figure it all out.  Sadly, when he doesn't move fast enough, The Collector gives him the incentive he needs.  The murderer kidnaps Calvin and gives Seb only 48 hours to find the skull, or Calvin will forfeit his life!

The characters in this book (heck, in the whole series) are so well-written, with dialogue that comes across so natural (Seb's sarcastic side definitely reminds me so much of myself!).  It really brings all of the characters to life and makes them feel very real.  And Seb's reaction with his ex-boyfriend, Neil, when he shows up at the antique store on page 11 after the delivery of the severed head is priceless:

Neil seemed to only just notice me as he stopped at the stairs. "Nancy," he said by way of greeting.

"Bess," I countered.

I laughed out loud when I read these two lines - regular readers may not have caught the reference (thinking "Nancy" meant nothing more than a reference to the fact that Seb was gay and out), but I immediately caught the references to my favorite of all sleuths, Nancy Drew - and the character names fit perfectly: Sebastian, as an amateur sleuth, would definitely be Nancy Drew, while Neil, with his fear of coming out of the closet represents the ever-fearful Bess Marvin.  Kudos to Poe for throwing in so nonchalantly a Nancy Drew reference like this!

Now, the identity of The Collector does come a bit out of left field, but when this character is first seen in the book, I immediately thought in the back of my mind, "this is most likely the killer."  While there were several potential suspects, they all seemed too obvious, and some of the things this particular character said made me think they had to be the one doing all of this (even though I had no idea why they would be doing it).  

One last thing about the story is the fact that after three books, some of Calvin's family finally makes an appearance in this book, and Seb's reaction to Cal's brother calling and then showing up in town is perfect - it's probably how I would react to in-laws who were homophobic and kicked my partner out of their lives when he came out to them.  However, that being said, I was a bit disappointed that this certain subplot never actually gets resolved by the end of the book.  And considering how much the relationship of Seb and Cal has been developing over this four-book series, I would have liked to have seen resolution to Cal's relationship with his family.  Or (fingers crossed!!!!!), perhaps this is a sub-plot Poe has purposefully left dangling in case she decides to come back and write a fifth book?!  One can only hope!

 

Finally, I must again thank Poe for yet another reference to the Miss Butterwith books - a direct reference to the series of cozy mystery books written by Christopher Holmes in the Josh Lanyon "Holmes & Moriarty" series of mysteries.  I just love the idea that Snow & Winter are in the same world with Holmes & Moriarty, and it gives me hope that one of these days Poe and Lanyon will bring these characters together for a super mystery (I mean, after all, if Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys can team-up, then surely Snow & Winter and Holmes & Moriarty can!).

[Oh, and Poe - "Ben Dover" as a character?  Really?  Why not mention his sister, Eileen Dover? LOL]

Over-all, this has been a thoroughly enjoyable series of mysteries to read, and I would definitely recommend them to any mystery fan out there (WARNING:  there are some rather explicit scenes in the books, but they do not take over the book and can be easily skimmed over without affecting the reading of the story).

RATING:  10 original autographs of Christopher Holmes out of 10 for creating yet another well-crafted mystery of antiquities and history that completely draws the reader into the story, not wanting to put the book down until it's done!