Undercurrents: A Faye Longchamp Mystery

In Evans’s appealing 11th mystery featuring compassionate archeologist Faye Longchamp (after 2017’s Burials), the state of Tennessee hires Faye’s cultural resources firm to examine land intended for a new campground in Sweetgum State Park, on the outskirts of Memphis, for any historically valuable relics that might be found there. On the first day of the dig, Faye hears unusual sounds in the woods, which lead her to a woman who has been badly beaten and hastily buried alive. The unfriendly police detective who arrives on the scene interrogates Faye, who has left her ID in her car. For the first time in her life, Faye, a person of color, starts to worry about “being considered guilty-while-black.” Wary of the police and concerned about the victim’s young daughter, Faye is drawn into an investigation that points to a serial killer. Evans expertly juggles a host of likely suspects, all the while breathing life into the city of Memphis, from its tourist-filled center to its marginal neighborhoods and the spectacular wilderness of the state park. [em]Agent: Anne Hawkins, John Hawkins & Assoc. (Apr.) [/em]