SKELETON CREW
In 1558 a Spanish galleon
headed for the New World loaded with supplies for the colonies sank off
the coast of Georgia. Now, inside one of the largest cofferdams ever
built for purposes of archaeology, Lindsay Chamberlain is excavating the
site on the ocean floor. The new head of the division of anthropology
and archaeology at the University of Georgia, Francisco Lewis, is
staking his reputation on the project. John West, Lindsay's friend, is
risking his future and his construction company on the safety of the
cofferdam. For Lindsay, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to
piece together a history that unfolded at sea, not on land.
Her research reveals that at
least one passenger survived to tell the tale of the ship's voyage and
destruction. His diary, written in code in a mix of Latin shorthand and
archaic Spanish, reveals details of the voyage and describes his life at
sea in the sixteenth century. This treasure of information for the
archaeologists now recovering the remains of the ship tells of another
lost ship -- a galleon on its way to Spain loaded with a vast treasure
of gold, silver, and precious jewels. The diary also reveals that a
murder occurred on the journey and provides Lindsay with a skeleton crew
of suspects -- all the clever scholar needs to solve a crime that
occurred more than 400 years earlier.
With the ocean and its pounding
waves only two bulkheads away, anxiety takes a toll on the excavating
crew. Modern-day pirates loom on the horizon, and a hurricane is blowing
their way. Adding to the troubles, two men with ties to the site are
found murdered.
As tensions and trouble escalate, Lindsay must solve the
murders. Everyone is a suspect. After all, whocan resist the temptation
of so much gold?
