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ERASED FROM MEMORY
by Diana O'Hehir
Berkley, December 2006
288 pages
$23.95
ISBN: 0425212165


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Carla Day's 86-year-old father Ed suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Ed was a leading scholar on ancient Egypt but now his disease is slowly getting worse. He is still respected for his findings and he is often called to help in Northern California's Egypt Regained Museum where his most important find, an ancient Egyptian coffin cover, is one of their most prized objects.

On one visit there he is found standing over the body of a man and Ed is accused of murder.

The local sheriff takes Ed in for questioning and to Carla's rising anger the sheriff says that he thinks Ed is faking his medical condition and mental problems. Carla gets an attention grabbing local lawyer in to defend her father who is immediately released. It seems that the 'dead' man wasn't, and he got up and walked out of the hospital.

Carla and her father are invited to stay at the museum by its flamboyant owner to take part in a celebration of a new find by one of the museum's guest lecturers, Scott Dillard. There are other guest scholars staying at the museum and along with Carla's father they all have a history together. Five years previously, before the Alzheimer's had touched Ed, all of them had spent time together at a dig in Thebes. It seems that there was a lot of interplay amongst the team, and all of them say they respected and still respect Ed. Carla and her father agree to stay at the museum for the time being.

But right away they once again find the dead man – this time is he is indeed dead – in the garden of the museum.

Carla wants to clear her father from any further harassment by the local sheriff about the death and so she investigates to find the guilty party – and the reason for the murder. But she soon finds that there is still more danger for everyone at the museum as the body count rises.

ERASED FROM MEMORY is a first-rate murder mystery. The central character, Carla, is a strong woman who is super sensitive when it comes to her father and his well-being. Her amazing life as a child and teen as she traveled with her father from ancient digs to the leading universities of the world is touched upon in the book but Carla doesn't come off as an educated woman. She has done her best to distance herself from her history and made her own life away from colleges and halls of learning to become a tough, straight-talking person who takes no guff from anyone, no matter how famous or powerful.

The reader is taught a lot about ancient Egypt and the way that modern researchers learn about long dead civilizations. Writer Diana O'Hehir also does a marvelous job in describing how people who have Alzheimer's are affected by that illness. Before long we all can completely understand why Ed does what he does and we can see how well Carla has learned how to help her father as his disease progresses.

With an ending that will surprise you while making complete sense, ERASED FROM MEMORY is an entertaining and interesting book. This is the second of the series and the second I've read. I look forward to reading more of these books.

Reviewed by A. L. Katz, January 2007

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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