Review Rating
With the October 2004 review, we began rating the books on the basis of one to four trowels;
one trowel= don’t bother, to four trowels= run right out to your local book store and buy the hard cover!
Golden Oldies - reviewing previously unreviewed books by previously reviewed “greatest hits” authors!
As we approach nearly twenty-five years of the MVAC reviews of archaeological fiction, I thought it would be fun to re-visit six of the authors whose works have been reviewed in the past. Three of these authors have sadly passed away since I first reviewed them (Margot Arnold, Lynn Hamilton, and Elizabeth Peters); two have “retired” their archaeologist protagonists, Gideon Oliver (Aaron Elkins), and Emma Fielding (Dana Cameron); and one, (Kate Ellis) continues to put DI Wesley Peterson and his friend, archaeologist Neil Watson, in harm’s way as solve contemporary crimes that have their roots in the distant past. While these authors have been reviewed previously, these books have not.
A Fugitive Truth (Golden Oldie) Gresens' 25th Anniversary Review by Dana Cameron
Reviewed on: March 1, 2026
Avon Books: New York
2004 (HC)
Between 2002 and 2006, Dana Cameron wrote six Emma Fielding mysteries that chronicled the adventures of the eponymous historical archaeologist—most of which took place in New England. A number of these were examined here in the early 2000s, and for this fourth “throwback” retrospective, as we approach twenty-five years of these monthly reviews, we will look at A Fugitive Truth, the fourth entry in this excellent series.
What set the Emma Fielding mysteries apart from many others in the genre was the real-world experience that Dana Cameron, a practicing archaeologist, brought to the series. Her tales of murder and mayhem were not restricted to the “romance” of field work, but also the world of laboratory analysis, and in the case of A Fugitive Truth, the essence of bibliographic research as it relates to archaeology.
The novel opens with Emma beginning a four-week sabbatical at the Shrewsbury Foundation, housed in a Victorian manse in the Berkshire foothills of western Massachusetts. The Foundation sponsors visiting scholars who wish to utilize its specialized holdings in New England history and culture. Emma hopes to craft a publishable paper using the 18th century diary of Margaret Chandler, whose home Emma had excavated only months earlier (See September 1, 2003, review of Past Malice). She gets a chilly reception from the estate’s gatekeeper and security officer, and quickly finds that her fellow scholars-in-residence are decidedly eccentric: Jack Miner, whose research centers on economic history during the American Revolution, has been working on his ground-breaking book for years, and appears to have a serious drinking problem, while Michael Glasscock is a pompous and exceedingly strange expert on the American Transcendental movement of the early 19th century. A third visiting Fellow, Dr. Faith Morgan, who is researching antebellum fiction, will return after a brief visit to Boston.
Fortunately, Emma finds that the Foundation professional staff, the handsome and charming head librarian, Henry Saunders, and the beautiful and statuesque manuscript librarian, Sasha Russo, are quite normal and enthusiastic about her project. Emma plunges into her research, finding the diary of Margaret Chandler to be full of interesting details of early 18th Century life in what was then literally the American “frontier.” The journal, a mere one hundred pages or so in length, covered only a few months of time but was unusually detailed in not only describing everyday life on the site Emma had excavated, but also the outspoken and strong-willed views of the diarist, which was incredibly unusual for that era. But towards the end of the journal, Margaret Chandler switched to a numerical code. Corroborating documentation indicates this shift took place when Margaret Chandler stood trial for the murder of a local clergyman. While acquitted of the charge, some townspeople hinted at Margaret’s involvement with witchcraft.
Emma finally meets Faith Morgan, the fourth Shrewsbury scholar, who she formerly knew as Faith Burnes, a fellow graduate student at Coolidge College. While only acquaintances in grad school, Faith opens to Emma--over possibly a few too many drinks--about her disastrous marriage to an abusive husband, Paul Burnes. It is shortly thereafter that Emma stumbles upon the body of Faith Burnes, the victim of an apparent homicide. And not long after that grisly encounter, Jack Miner is found dead in the Foundation’s gazebo—the result of a second murder or a drunken stupor? And will Emma be the next victim? Or possibly even the foppish Michael Glasscock?
Emma’s continuing research into the life and times of Margaret Chandler hint at disturbing parallels between the contemporary deaths and the travails of the woman who lived two hundred years earlier. Things aren’t always what they seem can be a hard-learned lesson—and a deadly one!
Four trowels for the complex and very satisfying “throwback” murder mystery!
