Em convinces herself that in order for her to help Cecilia she needs to learn what really happened to Miriam. She begins to investigate the deceased's background and the murder. Em soon places her own life in jeopardy due to the investigation taking her to a sidebar involving cocaine smuggling. If Em is not careful, her curiosity could ultimately lead to her own death.

ONLY FLESH AND BONES is a refreshing amateur sleuth tale due to the introspective yet extroverted Em and Chandler (a refreshing charismatic criminal, who hopefully will reappear in a future Hansen novel). The novel contains a good who-done-it filled with lots of good humor (especially targeted is the psychiatry business). Sarah Andrews has developed an endearing protagonist, whose appearances are worth reading by fans of amateur sleuth mysteries.

Harriet Klausner Harriet Klausner


This is Sarah Andrew's best yet in the Em Hansen series.   May 12, 1998
ONLY FLESH AND BONES is the strongest book yet in the excellent series of Em Hansen mysteries written by Sarah Andrews. While it has some exciting action scenes, it is essentially a probe inside the minds of the well-developed characters, centering on Cecelia, the troubled daughter of a Denver oil tycoon who may have repressed memories that would lead to the unraveling of the mysterious death of her mother. Love, revenge, and international deals in the multi-millions combine to create a web of intrigue that Em, a petroleum geologist by training, but a private investigator by force of circumstance, must use all her analytical skills -- and sheer grit and gumption -- to unravel. While this book would provide a very gripping introduction to the Em Hansen series, I urge fellow readers who are unacquainted as yet with this scrappy, independent young woman to begin at the beginning, with TENSLEEP (1994) which introduces you to Em as a young woman mud-logger on a Wyoming oil rig, deep in a macho ambiente and getting into trouble investigating possible foul play. Then continue to A FALL IN DENVER (1996), where Em finds herself in a staff geologist job for a big oil company, and once again immersed in intrigue and foul play. And, finally, in MOTHER NATURE (1997), where Em, drawing on her geology and environmental skills, investigates the mysterious death of a powerful Senator's daughter through beautifully drawn Northern California scenes. All these volumes are informed by the fact that the author, Sarah Andrews, is herself a geologist, and clearly loves the natural beauty of the scenes she describes. I feel that this background will make ONLY FLESH AND BONES even more enjoyable, besides providing you with many hours' of great entertainment.