Mr. Smithson's Bones

by Richard Timothy Conroy

When ancient and modern bodies suddenly start appearing around the Smithsonian Institution, ex-Foreign Service officer Henry Scruggs, now working for the Institution's stodgy Foreign Affairs office, finds his quiet days completely disrupted.

Genres: Mystery

194 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Henry, a forty-two-year-old foreign service officer, has been nudged off the fast track into the bureaucratic backwaters of the Foreign Affairs Office at the Smithsonian Institution.

"A typical day consists of helping hapless American academics abroad, tracking down lost shipments of equipment and materials, and guiding various low-level foreign scholars and dignitaries around the vast offices of the venerable Institution. The routine days allow for late starts, long lunches, and lengthy tea-and-gossip sessions, until bodies -- both ancient and modern -- start popping up in all the wrong places.

"... dilettante detective Henry Scruggs is running one step behind a ruthless killer bent on decimating the executive staff of the Institution. And the killer's motive is known only to one one person who cannot speak the truth."
~~front & back flaps

Humorous, with a great deal of detail about how the Smithsonian works. Extremely original solutions to the age-old conundrum of how to hide the body(ies). Nice subplots of Henry's ongoing attempts to negotiate a love [sic] interest. All in all, a quite enjoyable little mystery.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful, witty mystery about the Smithsonian Institution. Henry Scruggs is a not-very-successful foreign service officer who has been seconded to the Smithsonian, where he passes his days helping scholars who are researching abroad, and giving tours to visiting dignitaries. When he accidentally finds the bones of the historical James Smithson, who is buried in a vault in the oldest building of the museum, he starts to wonder who is really in the vault...This leads to upheaval in the Museum, a trail of bodies and some dramatic adventures for Henry and his cynical friends.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this comic murder mystery only because of its reference to preserving a head in alcohol (I needed the reference for another project). It is silly, campy (but not campy enough), and mostly boring as can be unless you happen to work at the Smithsonian and are contemplating killing a few coworkers and need tips for hiding the bodies.