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Palm Trees and Poison: A Historical Mystery Romance in 1920s Egypt
Step into the sultry heat of 1920s Egypt, where ancient secrets hide along the banks of the Nile River.Fresh from solving her first murder case in Egypt, archaeologist Dr. Clarissa Bell thought the most dangerous thing about her new assignment would be authenticating ancient pigments.
She was wrong.
When a respected Egyptologist is poisoned at an elegant house party, Clarissa finds herself trapped with a collection of suspicious guests—including the devastatingly competent Benedict Quinn, whose true profession remains tantalizingly unclear.
With her insufferable ex-fiancé offering unsolicited protection and a killer with a flair for dramatic timing, Clarissa's archaeological training is getting quite the workout.
But then, what's Christmas without cyanide, chimney fires, and ancient curses?
Some secrets, it seems, are worth killing for—repeatedly.
"A gripping historical mystery perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Rhys Bowen, blending puzzle-solving, the exotic danger of 1920s Egypt, and a clever heroine who refuses to stay safely on the sidelines."
She was wrong.
When a respected Egyptologist is poisoned at an elegant house party, Clarissa finds herself trapped with a collection of suspicious guests—including the devastatingly competent Benedict Quinn, whose true profession remains tantalizingly unclear.
With her insufferable ex-fiancé offering unsolicited protection and a killer with a flair for dramatic timing, Clarissa's archaeological training is getting quite the workout.
But then, what's Christmas without cyanide, chimney fires, and ancient curses?
Some secrets, it seems, are worth killing for—repeatedly.
"A gripping historical mystery perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Rhys Bowen, blending puzzle-solving, the exotic danger of 1920s Egypt, and a clever heroine who refuses to stay safely on the sidelines."
294 pages, Paperback
Published October 23, 2025
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 22, 2025
I really liked the first book in this series. This, the second, didn’t live up to the first for me. This book is set in Luxor, and Clarissa Bell (an archaeologist) and Quinn (the mysterious man we met in the first book) are two of the people at a house party of a wealthy British woman. Now that isn't a bad setup, but until about the 50% point, our characters never leave the estate. It felt more like a locked room mystery than anything else, and for that, we didn't need it to be set in Egypt.
Eventually our characters get out a bit in Luxor and visit the Valley of the Kings and are given a tour of King Tutenkhamun's tomb by Howard Carter. They also eventually go to Karnak. However, in neither of those places was there much of a feel for the setting.
The murders were interesting, although Clarissa's investigative skills left a lot to be desired in this book, as she accused virtually everyone at the house party at some point of doing the killings.
There were also some awkward things that didn't work for me. At one point Clarissa mentions that something caused her “cognitive dissonance,” which completely pulled me out of the book, as Festinger’s “cognitive dissonance theory” was first mentioned in 1957.
The second half of the book picked up more for me, but still didn't live up to the first. While we don't get much in the way of a feel for Egypt, there was a lot about colonialist policies and the illegal antiquities trade. The book also ends with a big cliffhanger/reveal of some of the underlying mysteries of the series to date.
I will definitely read the next in the series, but hope we have more of a field for the setting than in this book.
Eventually our characters get out a bit in Luxor and visit the Valley of the Kings and are given a tour of King Tutenkhamun's tomb by Howard Carter. They also eventually go to Karnak. However, in neither of those places was there much of a feel for the setting.
The murders were interesting, although Clarissa's investigative skills left a lot to be desired in this book, as she accused virtually everyone at the house party at some point of doing the killings.
There were also some awkward things that didn't work for me. At one point Clarissa mentions that something caused her “cognitive dissonance,” which completely pulled me out of the book, as Festinger’s “cognitive dissonance theory” was first mentioned in 1957.
The second half of the book picked up more for me, but still didn't live up to the first. While we don't get much in the way of a feel for Egypt, there was a lot about colonialist policies and the illegal antiquities trade. The book also ends with a big cliffhanger/reveal of some of the underlying mysteries of the series to date.
I will definitely read the next in the series, but hope we have more of a field for the setting than in this book.
January 9, 2026
Exciting adventure, many twists and turns. Keeps you guessing.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews