Mesopotamia, 1930: When Agatha Christie invites fellow members of the Detection Club to witness the famous excavations at the ruins of Ur, Dorothy L. Sayers, her quick-witted assistant Eliza Baker, and Theo Sharp expect ancient wonders – not fresh corpses.
But when an archaeologist is found dead in the sand, whispers of a deadly curse sweep through the camp. Eliza suspects something far more dangerous than superstition. Amid glittering artifacts and
fragile alliances, every guest harbors secrets: the Woolleys, whose marriage is shadowed by tragedy; a journalist hungry for scandal; even academic Max Mallowan, whose loyalties are not what they seem.
As theft, forgery, and coded messages surface, the line between archaeology and espionage blurs.
And when Eliza and Theo find themselves in danger, they must face not only the truth about the murder – but also the truths they’ve long denied about each other. Can they uncover the killer before the desert claims another victim? Or will this dig unearth secrets too dangerous to survive?
Kelly Oliver is the award-winning, bestselling author of three mysteries series: The Jessica James Mysteries, The Pet Detective Mysteries, and the historical cozies The Fiona Figg Mysteries, set in WW1. She is also the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
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My thoughts: Agatha Christie is on a dig in the Iraqi desert, with a certain Max Mallowen (who would become her second husband), and has contacted the Detection Club for help. There have been several accidents, thefts and other incidents that have the local employees claiming it’s due to a curse.
Dorothy Sayers, along with her assistant, Eliza and writer Theo, along with Eliza’s beloved beagle Queenie, head out to help Agatha. The dig is being run by Leonard Woolley and his wife, on behalf of the British Museum, which has caused some argument with local archaeologists, who don’t want all their antiquities lost to another country.
But whoever, or whatever has caused all the problems is still at it. And now one of the junior archaeologists has been murdered. Thankfully Eliza and Theo are on the case.
Will they survive their trip to the desert? And will the case bring them closer?
This series is a lot of fun, and Kelly Oliver has used Agatha’s own autobiography about her archaeological adventures, Come Tell Me How You Live, as a resource. I know that the author loved her time on digs and her marriage to Mallowen was happy, much happier than her first one.
There are some moments of real peril for Eliza and Theo, and I really like them as characters (and obviously Queenie). This installment of the Detection Club adventures brings out more of their personalities and builds their relationship to a new level.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 