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Dec 17, 2008

Michelle rated it:

Clever dialogue, a feisty and intelligent heroine, along with vivid descriptions of the culture and landscape of Crete circa 1928 meld to create a perfect historical mystery. Fans of Elizabeth Peters (Amelia Peabody series) and Jacqueline Winspear (Maisie Dobbs series) will be equally charmed by this first book in the Laetitia Talbot series.
Laetitia Talbot finds herself not quite welcome at Villa Europa, the home of Theodore Russell who is a prominent archaeologist on the island of Crete. More...

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May 16, 2010

Carolyn rated it:

I enjoyed this book, but then its setting in Heraklion, Crete, and an archaeological excavation near Knossos was of particular interest to me. I studied archaeology in college and was fortunate to spend a wonderful summer as a student in Greece, which included study of the Minoan civilization on Crete. It was not only my favorite era, but my favorite place (except for maybe Delphi). So this story, the first in a series, which features a young British female archaeologist in 1928 and her first More...

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Jan 03, 2012

Tamora rated it:

Set in the 1920s on Crete as the archaelogical boom rolls on, Laetitia is trying to make it as a female archaeologist. She sponsors a dig under the aegis of a local archaeological sponsor and member of the upper class who has definite issues with women, including Letty and even his lovely young second wife. Things go haywire when Phoebe is murdered and suspicion is promptly cast on the bigwig's handsome son by his first marriage.

There are twists within twists here, plus a little roma More...

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Jan 23, 2012

Marfita rated it:

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Mar 03, 2009

Rossrn rated it:

Read, but didn't finish. Was so bummed out, but I tried and tried and simply couldn't get into this book. I did make it to page 79 in paperback, but after more than once asking why I was still reading, decided to stop.

I'd read a couple of Cleverly's Joe Sandilands books and really liked them. So much so, that while waiting for Steve Berry's latest to get returned to the library and Matthew Pearl's to be released I gave this a shot.

It was awfully slow and not very fluid. Th More...

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Apr 06, 2011

Lauren rated it:

This book was a little slow, but almost as much of a historical fiction book and romance as it is a mystery.

The main character "Letty" Talbot travels to Crete to work as an archaeologist paid to find the Tomb of Zeus. She meets some unique people and is dragged into an intricate web of love, death, and family.

I enjoyed this book over all, but I'm not as into romances as others are so this wasn't as good for me as I'm sure it was for others. It was a little confusin More...

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Mar 09, 2010

Debbie rated it:

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Jan 28, 2009

Christine rated it:

This book really wanted to be good, worked super hard on it, put it lots of different things to try to keep your attention and then....not so much. It started off really slowly, but picked up and was honestly interesting for most of the middle part, but completely fell apart at the end. There were just too many threads to pull together, and too many coincedences required to make those threads come together coherently. Worse yet, the archeology in the book felt completely extraneous, even thou More...

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Aug 08, 2011

Deb rated it:

Laetitia Talbot arrives on the island of Crete in 1928 ready to join the British archaeological community there. Having been invited to live at the Villa Europa, home of up and coming archaeologist Theo Russell and his family, she finds an uncomfortable environment which she longs to abandon for scruffy quarters among the student archaeologists A seeming suicide and a nearly fatal auto accident turn the island into a hotbed of rumor and suspicion within days of her arrival. I loved this becau More...

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Apr 16, 2010

Jenna rated it:

I enjoyed the connection to Greek mythology, I liked the heroine (some might find her a bit too close to Amelia Peabody?), and the secondary characters were interesting, overall. I enjoy the echoes of WW1, without it being a "WW1 mystery" like Charles Todd or Jacqueline Winspear. I sometimes would like a bit more specific period details, but that's quibbling point, and novels that put in too many details can be problematic, also. I admit the final unravelling left me a little confu More...

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Jan 10, 2012

Heather rated it:

Eh. Not up to the Sandilands books, I think this one tried to do too much. Romance, archaeology, mystery, bright-young-thing historical - and everything suffered in the end. I was particularly disappointed with the archaeology. The finds were lovingly described and clearly meant to drive the plot and add layers of depth and foreshadowing to the "modern" stories, but the author didn't give us enough to work with. The finds ended up being ancillary at best.

Parts of it r More...

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Jan 29, 2010

Holly rated it:

I always enjoy stories about archaeology and thought this story was an interesting mix of history, myth, and mystery. I felt the story was a bit slow in the beginning and I almost wondered if I would make it through the entire thing (I found the dialogue hilariously absurd since it is so far removed from how we speak today...which is perhaps sad? :D), but by the end I was thoroughly engaged and caught myself speed reading with excitement. I love mysteries and I liked how this story tumbled apart More...

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Apr 06, 2011

Maria rated it:

The story is set in Crete after the discovery of Knossos and other Minoan sites and the author seems quite knowledgable about the period and Greek literature. The heroine is Laetitia Talbot, who arrives in Crete to join a group of archeologists under Theodore Russell. As well as searching for the Tomb of Zeus of the title she also becomes an amateur detective following the suicide or murder of her hostess Phoebe Russell. Although I found some of the characters and situations stereotyped and p More...

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Oct 29, 2010

Angela rated it:

As I've often posted about before, I'm a big fan of Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series. And as y'all might guess with my recent post about finishing up Queen of Souls, I dig me some Greek mythology. So when I happened across The Tomb of Zeus on the new releases shelf in the Mystery section at Barnes & Noble the other night, I couldn't help but be interested: a period novel set in the 1920's, a woman doing archaeology, and moreover, doing it on the isle of Crete. Bitchin'. Sign me up.
More...

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Jan 09, 2008

LJ rated it:

THE TOMB OF ZEUS (Amateur Sleuth-Laetitia Talbot-Crete-1928) – VG
Cleverly, Barbara – Standalone
Delta Trade Paperbacks, 2007, US Trade paperback, ISBN: 9780385339902

First Sentence: The big gates were in sight and were standing open.

*** Laetitia Talbot is an aspiring archaeologist who has come to Crete. There she finds a man she’s known before, her host, Theodore Russell who is looking for the Tomb of Zeus and has assigned Laetitla a site for her dig, and his More...

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May 21, 2010

Kim rated it:

I really enjoyed this first book in the series. The setting in Crete was fascinating. I loved the archeological parts, as someone who's been on a dig, they felt just right. Laetitia's character was a bit hard to figure out and there was some narrative misleading that felt like it was only there for the sake of a big reveal. But I'll definitely be checking out the other books in this series. I hope the archeology continues to be as interesting.

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Dec 03, 2008

Jeanne rated it:

1928. The Island of Crete. Dilettante Laetitia Talbot has arrived for an archaeological dig. Surrounded by men, she is determined to prove her prowess.

But before any digging may commence, her host's wife hangs herself. Or did she? Following her death, her host's son drives off a cliff. What's going on? And how long will it take Letty to figure it all out?

Well, I thought that Letty would be a plucky Amelia Peabody sort of heroine. She's not. And I couldn't really More...

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Jun 27, 2010

Michael rated it:

I'd give this 2.5 stars. I liked the setting (Crete) and Letty is a strong female character. But I felt there was too much on the archaeology and not enough worrying about the death of Phoebe and catching her murderer. I also felt the ending was rushed, and I guessed the identity of the child in the prologue well before the end (well at least that made me feel clever.)

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Jul 27, 2011

Ruth rated it:

c2008. It was a good enough story to keep me reading but it really was more fluff than flavour. I thought the characters were fairly one dimensional and the best parts had to do with the myths. I will not rush out to obtain any more in the series. Can you believe that the horrid phrase "living rock" appeared in the story as well. Does Ms Cleverley write fantasy under another name? (Not a real question)

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May 05, 2011

Sherri rated it:

Island fun~dark mystery and a sexy archaeologist to boot.
This book reads like a quick flip book, and you'll find yourself enjoying the food, the wine and the weather~nearly forgetting a murderous plot is afoot and a young woman's academic career at stake.
Perfect for the bathtub, the beach or the cruiseship.

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May 18, 2011

Madonna rated it:

This started as a 2-star book but it did get better. I ended this book by deciding to read the next in the series. I like the author, Barbara Cleverly, and her series with Joe Sandilands set in India. She does an effective job with historical novels creating an earlier time.

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Jan 08, 2012

Ofelia rated it:

I am a fan of historical fiction in general, particularly mysteries, so I liked it. I like strong heroines too. This reminded me a little of Amelia Peabody, but not quite as good. I think I will need to read the next one to get a better feel for this character.

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Jun 22, 2009

Tina rated it:

Blech. Book 2 of the mystery book club. Finally quit reading at page 160 because I just didn't care, no matter how hard I tried. Presumably this is an award winning writer, but I can't imagine how or why.

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Dec 30, 2008

Andrea rated it:

A well-constructed mystery set in Crete, with romance and betrayal, exotic setting and archaeologists. Quintessential fun reading.

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Jul 28, 2011

Elissa rated it:

The writing was pretty good, but I have to say I was a bit turned off by the main character. Also, I didn't feel like it was completely historically accurate- especially the dialog. But not a bad mystery novel.

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Aug 22, 2008

Babette rated it:

This is the start of a new series by Barbara Cleverly, who is already known for her most enjoyable Joe Sandilands books. Like her other series, this starts with a rather exotic setting - an archeological dig in Crete, and the time period is the same in both series, the 1920s. The central character in the Tomb of Zeus is female - a rather smart and liberated female. The plot is adequate - one forgives the weaknesses because they are offset by the interesting description of the mythology and hi More...

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Oct 18, 2009

Diane rated it:

There were too many characters in this book to make the plot run smooth. I had to go back numerous times to remember who was who. I will not be reading another from this series.

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Sep 01, 2011

Emily rated it:

An interesting read with good atmosphere. It definitely improved as it went.

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Sep 26, 2011

Donna rated it:

I would have liked a greater depth of involvement of Hansen's disease in the story. But, having both a mention of the unmentionable disease and a fascinating view of the relationship of archaeology and mythology in a nicely paced and well developed mystery was very satisfying.

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Jun 02, 2010

Roberta rated it:

An interesting mix of archaeologly and mystery on the island of Crete. A young female sleuth.

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