The annual return of Lady Emily – wherever she may journey – is always something to celebrate. In this outing, Tasha Alexander’s 16th, Lady Emily and the dashing Colin have chosen to accompany Colin’s mother on a trip down the Nile. The host, Lord Deeley, is an admirer of Lady Hargreaves, Colin’s mother, as well as an old friend, and joining the expedition is Colin’s daughter Kat. Emily has a slightly prickly relationship with both women, one she tries very hard to set right.
The first part of the journey is a dreamy cruise, seeing antiquities by day, enjoying their ship at night. The Hargreaves family is on their own little boat, while Lord Deeley’s party is on a bigger and faster one. It’s when they arrive at Deeley’s home in Luxor that the trouble starts. After an incredibly luxurious – and very British – meal, Lord Deeley collapses and dies at the table, a victim of poisoning. Colin assumes control and the Egyptian police are quickly convinced one of the servants is the guilty party, but those of us who read mysteries (and Colin) know better.
It’s 1904, so it’s at the height of the discoveries of the treasures of the tombs that surround Luxor. Lord Deeley himself was an avid collector and a dabbler in archeology, though he was driven out of it by the archaeological community years ago. As Emily and Colin begin their investigation, they start to discover a series of incriminating letters, pointing out very healthy motives for murder for several in the party, including Lady Hargreaves. While neither Emily or Colin suspect Lady Hargreaves, the revelations prove slightly troubling to all three of them.
This book is a story of family alliances and tensions as much as it is a murder mystery. While Emily reaches détente with her mother-in-law, her relationship with the headstrong Kat is still a work in progress, though they have made some since their first encounter. There’s also a parallel story of family tensions in ancient Egypt, where the focus is on a family of artisans. They had their own community set up near the great tombs of the pharaohs, where the statuary and decorations were created.
The ancient thread highlights the life of Kamose and Meryt. Meryt is a skilled sculptor, and the twin of Bek, who works as a painter. Bek’s wife, Sanura, seems to have an inexplicable dislike for Meryt, who nevertheless attempts to get along with her sister-in-law. Their relationship is far more volatile that Emily and Kat’s, but it’s an extreme mirror of how things could go wrong.
This is also a novel of assumptions. Look at things one way, and they appear to have a certain solution, look at them from another angle, and a different solution is arrived at. This, along with the obvious Nile journey similarity, highlights Alexander’s homage to Agatha Christie. And it’s with this very Christie like method that Emily solves the crime and Meryt and her sister in law finally reach an understanding.
The book is filled with details of Egyptology and what is must have been like to actually uncover these treasures for the first time. Alexander puts together a wonderful traditional detective story as well as a deeply felt and illuminated historical novel. She also throws in a little nod to Amelia Peabody, a character who has influenced many of today’s historical mystery writers. As always this was a blast of a read, and it will be a very long year for me before I can again meet up with Lady Emily.