Meh. Stopped and finished at 250 of 350 pgs. My dislike for the top two female characters became overpowering. The main was doing all of her butting into everyone's biz under the premise that she was just helping her friend who continuously rebuffed her help. They were annoying and very unlikable. ( )

Emma Fielding has gone to England to help her friend Jane with a dig prior to doing some research of her own in the country. However, things aren't quite up to Emma's standards at the excavation. Techniques and discipline seem quite lax to her. Prior to her arrival one of the students unearthed a more recent burial than should have been found on the site of the old abbey; however, it's still quite old. One of the students is missing and turns up dead. A lady who practices Wicca is spending a lot of time at the site, antagonizing Jane. I wish I could have enjoyed this installment as much as I enjoyed the first one, but it just didn't work for me. Emma needs to be on her own turf, in charge of the excavation, with her own students surrounding her. I'm quite surprised that an author would try to put her protagonist outside her own territory in the second book of the series. The character is still being established, and in this one she's having to be more passive because it's not her own dig, she's not as familiar with the governmental regulations on digs, etc. The characters in this installment were not as thoroughly developed as they could have been. I hope that the third installment is more like the first. If it's not, I'll abandon the series. ( )

Emma Fielding should have sensed something was wrong when her friend, Jane, failed to pick her up at the airport on her arrival in London. Emma has arranged to spend a couple of weeks with her friend and fellow archaeologist while she's in the U.K. for research. Jane is directing an excavation of a ruined abbey, and Emma is looking forward to helping out at the dig without the usual pressures that come with being the project director. It's soon apparent to Emma that things aren't going well. Jane and her project face opposition from some of the local residents, including a local builder/developer and a Wiccan who believes the site has pagan connections. Jane and her husband seem to have hit a rocky patch in their marriage. Emma is disturbed by the lax work standards in comparison with digs in the U.S., particularly evidenced by the unexplained absence of several team members. When the murdered body of a missing team member is discovered, Emma feels compelled to do what she can to clear her friend from suspicion of murder.

This is one of those books that doesn't quite live up to its promise. The archaeological aspect of the plot is under-emphasized. Emma spends much more time away from the site than on it. A couple of suspicious characters drop out of the action without explanation. The plot relies too much on coincidence. Emma doesn't need to deduce anything since other characters helpfully confide their secrets to her. I think it was probably a mistake to move Emma out of her home territory and her usual role of project director in the second book of the series. I liked the first book in the series well enough to give it another chance. If there's no improvement in the next one, I doubt I'll read any more in the series. ( )