Daniel Wilson now works as a private
investigator, but he is better known as one of Abberline’s
team who tackled the Jack the Ripper case. Six years later
he is called to Cambridge to investigate a murder at the Fitzwilliam
museum by its director. A mysterious body has been found in
an Ancient Egyptian sarcophagus, part of a new exhibition.
Daniel soon finds that he has an ally in archaeologist Abigail
Fenton but local Inspector Drabble is less keen to have an
“amateur” on his patch. Then the papers start
talking about a murderous mummy being the culprit, and soon
there is another body…
This is the first in a new series of mysteries about Wilson
of the Yard, who gets to investigate crimes in three different
museums. He also gets a love interest in the shape of Abigail,
a possible rival in her affection and a reluctant ally of
sorts with Drabble. The author has written nearly a hundred
books, TV and radio scripts particularly for children and
teenagers, many of them thrillers. With this backlist I expected
a tauter, pacier read with plenty of action but the pace is
leisurely and any action is all fairly low key. The result
is a cozy tale with a frisson of romance; enjoyable fare with
the added bonus of being set somewhere a bit different. Daniel
and Abigail make an engaging pair of sleuths and it will be
interesting to see what happens in the other two museums.
A relaxing read for autumn evenings.
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