In Hamilton's well-told 10th archeological mystery (after 2004's The Magyar Venus
), Toronto antiques dealer Lara McClintoch and her friend Moira Meller, while on vacation on Rapa Nui (better known as Easter Island), decide to register for the First Annual Rapa Nui Moai Congress, which they discover is being held at their hotel. Notable among the conference's participants—an eccentric lot of interested amateurs rather than serious scholars—is Jasper Robinson, an adventurer filming a documentary and putting forth his own theory about the Moai, the huge carved heads for which the isolated Pacific island is famous. Many are jealous of Robinson, but who would go so far as to murder the man? Vivid descriptions of the terrain, as well as details of the history and cultural evolution of Easter Island's people, enrich this chatty whodunit. While some of the action strains credulity, Hamilton makes effective use of flashbacks and puts a first-class twist on the traditional locked-room mystery. Agent, Bella Pomer. (Apr. 5)
