Amazon Category:  Mystery/Suspense Publisher: Arcane Books ISBN-10:  0966647874 Type: Fiction Pages: 245 Copyright: Jan 1 2001 An archaeological crew unearths something unexpected in Laney McVey's front yard. But something else is waiting under the stones--something so personal and gruesome, Laney is shaken as she has been never been before. Laney McVey returns in "Field of Stones," the third book in the series. When Bucky Gage and his archaeological crew unearth a two hundred-year-old-skeleton at Laney McVey's Stoney Creek Farm, the excitement of a history mystery escalates along with Laney's infatuation for the staff archaeologist. Confused and hurt, Laney's long time friend, Gray Prescott, withdraws. As thought the green-eyed monster itself was released when the stones were disturbed, other solid relationships suddenly begin to shrivel and die under the sizzling summer sun. Cilla and Toby, junior members of the dig, work together to overcome their tormented pasts while Cilla disances herself from her obsessive boyfriend, Luke. And when Laney's friend, Shar Hamilton, suspects her fiance has fallen for his housekeeper, Shar unleashes her Scottish wrath. But something else is waiting under the stones--something so personal and gruesome that Laney is shaken as she has never been before. When she attempts to solve the puzzle of how the horror got into her field of stones, she uncovers secrets that are twisted , raw and deadly. Excerpt ...Pitting his strength against more limestone forms, he levered while wave after wave of freezing rain slammed against him and set his teeth to clattering. But one by one the stones toppled until the large slab beneath was clear. He dropped to his knees and inch by inch, his numb fingers dragged the giant stone aside revealing several tiny rocks and a small pocket of earth in the shelf below. Clawing at the dirt, he unearthed a cavity before again feeling rock. He reached for the sack. Sleet shattered and crumbled off the burlap as he crammed it into the crevice and covered it with the dense wet dirt that he had removed. With hands numb with cold, he shoved and pulled at the slab, fitting the rock back into the opening like a giant, jigsaw puzzle piece. "Perfect!" he said smugly as he replanted the upright rocks. "No fear of a plow or disk turning it up some spring. Gone forever under the field of stones."

Field of Stones
Field of Stones is the third suspense novel that follows the emerging career of the lead character, Laney McVey. Bourbon County author, Marilyn Dungan, has developed a following for her mystery series and the adventures of a central core of characters that trek through familiar sites in Bourbon County, Kentucky. Laney McVey is a sleuth more by circumstances than by design and her sometimes amateurish attempts in solving crimes are made credible by motivations that come from the heart instead or originating in the mind of a professional detective. In Stones, as in the first two books of the series, she operates from her home base, a combination farm and bed and breakfast. The story gets underway with Laney hosting an archaeolgical dig on her farm. The excitement escalates when a 200 year old skeleton is found. However, the dig also uncovers the body of a child that is just decades old and sets off a trail of clues that lead to intrigue, suspects and ultimately murder. It is a good story that is enhanced by familiar characters from the series. Shar, Laney's raunchy friend provides comedic relief and the common sense that McVey needs from time to time. Gray Prescott, verinarian, and Laney's romantic interest returns but must deal with a new love interest that vies for Laney's affections. The plot moves slowly in the beginning as the author sets the stage for an action packed ending that reveals some shocking revelations about the past that will affect the future for all who are caught in the web of mystery that began with the ghoulish discovery in the Field of Stones.