Airtight Case: A Lindsay Chamberlain Novel

by Beverly Connor

Book Overview

In a seemingly random event, forensic anthropologist Lindsay Chamberlain is attacked and left for dead. Buried in a shallow grave in the woods, she manages to escape, although she suffers from loss of memory as a result of the ordeal. When Lindsay's memory returns, it is incomplete. She copes with the trauma by ignoring it, and she allows the authorities to handle the investigation. As the probe quickly comes to a dead end, however, the assault looms...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1581822952
• ISBN13: 9781581822953
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Cumberland House Publishing
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

I stayed up until 3 in the morning finishing this book --

On a weeknight. Knowing I had to get up and go to work in the morning. So be warned -- start this book when you know you'll have to read it nonstop (like a beach?)It took about one sentence for me to get into the book. The action begins immediately -- archeologist Lindsay Chamberlain is in a hospital with amnesia, and some guy who claims to be her fiance wants to take her home, but she knows something's wrong and tries to get away from him... well, you get the idea.Before long, the action shifts to an archeological dig in Tennessee just outside Smoky Mountains National Park. The crew on the dig are having major problems with a horribly belligerant site manager and lots of in-fighting. Somehow or another, these two stories have to come together, and they do, around archeologist Lindsay Chamberlain. I highly recommend this book -- I think it's the best book I've read so far this year.

Will there be more Lindsay books?

Someone recommended this series to me and since I'm on summer break I just plowed through all 5 books. I sincerely hope to be reading Lindsay's adventures for years to come. There's a whole planet for her to excavate and find mysteries to solve. The worst part about finishing Airtight Case was knowing that I didn't have another Beverly Connor novel to read after this one!Connor does a great job of exploring the fascinating world of Archaeology and manages to create interesting characters that she reintroduces with each book. The surrounding characters grow along with her protagonist, Lindsay Chamberlain, a highly intellegent, well-educated, and curious archaeologist. I hope Connor has more ideas for Lindsay Chamberlain's adventures and her publisher has the foresight to see them put into print.

I Love Lindsay!

If you have read any of the first four books of the Lindsay Chamberlain mysteries you know already Beverly Connor is a good writer. Read Airtight Case and you will know she is a great writer. Airtight Case is simply the best of the series so far.One thing I enjoy in particular about Connor's stories is how she introduces the element of mystery literally with the first few senteces, and we are already asking our questions and eager for the answers. In this story, we find Lindsay as a bruised amnesia patient in a Tennessee hospital; a seedy stranger tries to claim her as his fiancee but she appears to know enough that her life would be in more danger were she to allow herself to accompany this man. Her instincts, as usual, are correct.Skip ahead some time later and Lindsay has joined an excavation in Great Smoky Mountain area, where her reputation as a forensic anthropoligist and amateur sleuth evokes fascination among some on the dig and derision from one manager in particular who is convinced Lindsay's presence is a threat to her authority. Nonetheless, the crew is more concerned with the discovery of a makeshift graveyard in the area, and Lindsay tries her best to concentrate on the mysteries of the mountains' past rather than her own.The ghosts of her past troubles, however, continue to haunt her, and are literally manifested in Lindsay's conciousness as actual ghosts prowling the nineteenth-century home being used as headquarters, ghosts only Lindsay can see. When some a superior from her school and some locals persuade Lindsay to help investigate the mysterious death of an elderly relative which may be connected to the dig site, Lindsay is forced to hold on to her slowly slipping sanity lest she arouses too much suspicion and once again puts herself in danger.Connor has created a passionate and respectable character in Lindsay Chamberlain, a lady who, while she does not necessarily laugh in the face of danger, manages to steel herself enough to not let it destroy her. Connor's descriptions of the archaeological dig and its surrounding history are superbly detailed, and provide for a few surprising revelations in the supplemental mystery which ties in nicely with Lindsay's own adventures.I knew Beverly Connor briefly when I lived in Athens, and when I last spoke to her (back when A Rumor of Bones just came out) she was contracted for five novels. Now that Airtight Case is out, I would sincerely hope a contract renewal is in Connor's future. This series has produced some unique, compelling stories, and so long as Connor's ideas are fresh, I should hope to read of Lindsay's escapades for years to come.

A really well designed mystery

The man claimed to be her fiancé coming to take her home from the hospital in Mac's Crossing, Tennessee. Mark Smith insists she is Lisa Christian, an amnesia victim. The woman feels that this is not right and refuses to go with him. All she knows is that she needs to escape and stay free until her memory returns.As her mind begins to recall events, forensic anthropologist Lindsay Chamberlain joins a dig in the Great Smoky Mountains. However, the attitude of the crew is ugly and the excavation is stunned by a murder. Also hanging over Lindsay's head is the team of thugs trying to inter her permanently.AIRTIGHT CASE is a fabulous mystery starring a strong character. The opening scenes are tremendous, as readers will believe Lindsay suffers from memory loss. The story line continues on its powerful path as Lindsay begins to recover bits of her memory including being buried in a grave. Though the climax is quite good, the ending still is not quite on the same level of super-excellence as most of the novel is9although it is very well done). Beverly Connor has written a wonderful, fresh and exciting mystery tale that will garner her new readers seeking previous Chamberlain novels (see RUMOR OF BONES and DRESSED TO DIE, etc.).Harriet Klausner

Another winner in a consistently strong series

Returning from a conference, archaeologist Lindsay Chamberlain is captured on a lonely stretch of highway and buried alive. She escapes, recovers from amnesia, and joins a dig at a pioneer settlement in the Smoky Mountains. Everything is fine until it appears that there is a haunted house on the settlement, and its ghosts are after Lindsay. Plot and pace are even tighter here than in Connor's last Chamberlain novel, Skeleton Crew [BKL S 15 99]. All of the regular characters show continued growth as they tangle with two of the meanest killers imaginable. The mystery itself proves difficult to solve, and it is nicely incorporated with poignant profiles of mountain people, an appealing ghost story, and some fascinating reflections on amnesia. As always, the archaeological details--whether the trappings of a traditional dig or the lowdown on the latest space-age tools--are both integral to the action and fascinating in themselves. Another winner in a consistently strong series. --John RowenReviewed in Booklist, the book review journal of the American Library Association, Oct. 15, 2000, p. 421.