Victorian mystery complete with Egyptian mummies and murder!

Heart of the Nile (Barker & Llewellyn #14) by Will Thomas         

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

London, 1893. Thomas Llewellyn and Cyrus Barker have their hands full with an intriguing investigation of a disappeared gentleman who was last seen at midnight, with hints of a major discovery in an unto-now looked at mummy. One of a glut of mummies the British Museum has bought or been gifted by those English travellers who’ve done their Grand Tour, and now find that so desirable artefact has lost its sheen back in England. Most find their inglorious way to the Museum basement needing to be catalogued.

Phillip Addison had taken on the task. Unpaid, a volunteer, often working through the night, as a way to further his interest in Egyptology, perhaps even to be part of a dig one day. He was an Oxford man, ancient history enthusiast by night, and a school teacher by day. He’d developed a new and applauded system for designating information about the mummies.

But now Addison’s riveted by the discovery he’s made. In rushing off (at midnight) to tell his superior he manages to lock himself out of the museum. Now he looks like a thief. His superior Clive Hennings refuses to see him, and that’s the last we see of Addison.

Missing, Elizabeth Addison hires Llewellyn and Baker to find her husband.

What they will uncover is stunning! As is the ending!

Turning my attention to the mummy. The question is whose remains are they? Possibly a cleopatra, the Cleopatra, as there were several others. A romantic guess by Llewellyn is all we have.

An absolutely startling finish to a torrid investigation, the heart cleverly played in the end by Barker.

A St. Martin’s Press ARC invitation via NetGalley.                                              

Many thanks to the author and publisher.