After escaping from the hands of a ruthless murderer while honeymooning in Constantinople (Tears of Pearl), Lady Emily Hargreaves reluctantly agrees to recover from her wounds at her mother-in-law’s estate in Normandy. The calm permeating the lush countryside is destroyed when Emily, out for a ride, discovers the body of a young woman who has been brutally murdered. Begrudgingly accepting the investigation is firmly in the hands of the police, she focuses her attention on the reappearance of an old friend—Sebastian Capet, a thief of impeccable taste whom Buckingham Palace has taken a new interest in—until a series of clues draw her back into the fray. Haunting cries, the ghost of a small child, and two families afflicted with degenerative madness lead her into a terrifying game of wits against a cold and brilliant killer.
Pages: 320
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN-10: 0312383797
Amazon ChaptersIndigo
The Salt Road by Jane Johnson to be released in hardcover January 4, 2011. Jane Johnson's previous effort was The Tenth Gift (my review here), a wonderful timeslip novel I highly recommend to anyone. I think the cover is exotic and mysterious, don't you?When Isabelle’s estranged father dies he leaves her the house she grew up in, in the attic of which lies a mysterious box with her name on it. Inside the box are three items: an archaeological paper about an ancient Saharan queen, a faded piece of paper written in what appears to be in Arabic, and a curious piece of antique silver: an amulet.
In another place and time, Mariata belongs to a desert tribe which traces its roots back to Tin Hinan, founding queen of the Tuareg, the legendary Blue Men of the Sahara. She meets and falls in love with Amastan, a charismatic and damaged young warrior. But when her father takes a new wife who has no wish to live the nomad life he takes Mariata to settle in a town in south Morocco. Mariata hates her new existence; and when her stepmother plots to marry her off to a detested suitor, she decides to follow in the steps of her ancestress and make an epic solo journey a thousand miles into the desert in search of her lost love.
Separated by different times and cultures, the lives of Izzy and Mariata are about to become fatally entwined. Izzy discovers that her amulet is a Tuareg artefact containing an inscription in Tifinagh, a language of the ancient world used for poetry and magic, understood now only by nomads in the deep desert. The desert routes once travelled by caravans of camels bearing ivory, gold and salt are now more perilous than ever but Isobel must follow them if she is ever to lay her ghosts to rest.
Out in the magnificent wastes of the Sahara she will find more than she ever dreamed: not only the answer to her mysterious inheritance, but a romance as grand and sweeping as the desert itself…
Pages: 464
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
ISBN-10: 0385669976
I'll read the Tasha Alexander, although I must say I was a bit disappointed with the last one.
ReplyDeleteMarg - I've not gotten interested again in the series because of the mediocre reception to the last two books by Tasha Alexander. Hope the newest installment is much better. Really looking forward to The Salt Road though.
ReplyDeleteI have Tasha Alexander's books on my shelves but have not yet gotten to them. I bought them because I've heard seen rave reviews on her. I'll be interested in your review of this latest one.
ReplyDeleteChristine - isn't hard to decide on what to read next! I have way too many to be read books stacked on my bookshelf, at least 100. Thank goodness only a handful I have to do reviews for. Btw, congrats on upcoming A Royal Likeness. Looking forward to reading about Marguerite's adventures!
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