The Serpent's Daughter
A
Jade Del Cameron Mystery
Suzanne Arruda
NAL Books (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-451-22465-5 (0451224655)
ISBN-13: 978-0-451-22465-1 (9780451224651)
Publication Date: October 2008
List Price: $14.00
Synopsis (from the publisher): Joining her mother for a holiday in the ancient port city of Tangier, American adventuress Jade del Cameron expects their trip will be far less dangerous than her safaris in East Africa. But soon after their introduction to a group of European tourists, Doña del Cameron goes missing -- victim of an apparent kidnapping -- and, shockingly, the French authorities seek to arrest Jade for the murder of a man whose body she discovered in a series of ancient tunnels. Now, Jade must call upon her friends to help find her mother and expose the true villains, who have every intention of bringing about her own destruction.
Review:
Suzanne Arruda sets her third mystery with photojournalist Jade del
Cameron, The Serpent's
Daughter, in the spring of 1920 in Morocco where Jade has
agreed to meet her visiting mother in Tangier.
But soon after her arrival at the hotel, Inez del Cameron insists that
her daughter return to the US and live a proper life, to stop putting
herself in danger traipsing all over Africa. The minor quarrel ends
with the two women retreating to their rooms. Later Jade finds a note
from another guest suggesting that her mother left on a tour of a
nearby coastal town. When she doesn't return, Jade gets concerned and
sets out to find her, driving down the coast and stumbling over a dead
man's body in a cave into which she believes her mother may have been
taken. Her actions set into motion a series of events that eventually
reunite mother and daughter but expose them to even greater danger in
the foothills of the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.
As much adventure as mystery, The
Serpent's Daughter is a thrilling account of the journey
of Jade and her mother take to discover why Inez was kidnapped in the
first place. Another significant "character" in the story is the
country of Morocco and its people, both of which the author describes
in ardent detail. Chapters are prefaced with travelogue-style snippets
of information that are not only genuinely interesting but also relate
to the narrative that follows. The atmospheric setting adds depth and
complexity to the story and heightens the suspense when Jade (or Inez,
sometimes independently, sometimes together) find themselves in peril
(which, it must be said, happens with somewhat alarming, and amusing,
frequency).
From the delightful expressions Jade mutters to herself ("Where in the
name of St. Peter's fishing pole is she?", "Spit fire and save the
matches."), to the special relationship Jade shares with her mother,
and to the intriguing backdrop of Morocco in the early 20th century, The Serpent's Daughter
is a treat of a mystery.
Special thanks to Penguin Group for providing the trade paperback edition of The Serpent's Daughter for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read The Serpent's Daughter? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
Mark of the Lion
NAL Books (Hardcover), January 2006
ISBN-10: 0-451-21748-9 (0451217489)
ISBN-13: 978-0-451-21748-6 (9780451217486)
Stalking Ivory
NAL Books (Hardcover), January 2007
ISBN-10: 0-451-22026-9 (0451220269)
ISBN-13: 978-0-451-22026-4 (9780451220264)
The
Serpent's Daughter
NAL Books (Hardcover), January 2008
ISBN-10: 0-451-22294-6 (0451222946)
ISBN-13: 978-0-451-22294-7 (9780451222947)
Omnimystery keywords for The Serpent's Daughter
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Location(s) referenced: Tangier, Marrakesh, Morocco.
