The Curse of the Mummy: Uncovering Tutankhamun’s Tomb by Candace Fleming: A Non-Fiction Review

Everyone has heard of King Tutankhamun–the boy king whose reign as a pharaoh in Egypt’s New Kingdom was cut tragically short when he died as a teenager. You’ve probably seen pictures of the wondrous artifacts buried with him in his tomb so that they could travel with him into the afterlife.

But there’s more to the story than that. Centuries later, many believed the tomb was lost forever. After so many years of searching, some believed excavators would never uncover a tomb in the famed Valley of the Kings that had not fallen prey to looters.

They were wrong.

This is the story of the unlikely pair of men who, together, uncovered one of the most famous archaeological finds in history. This is also the story of how they may–or may not–have also been the first victims of one of the most enduring curses in history in The Curse of the Mummy: Uncovering Tutankhamun’s Tomb (2021) by Candace Fleming.

Find it on Bookshop.

Fleming turns her considerable talents as an author and researcher to separate fact from fiction surrounding the discovery and excavation of King Tut’s tomb in 1922. The rumors of the curse that affected Howard Carter, Lord Carnarvon, and the members of the excavation party. Chapters are broken up with sections titled “It Was Said” detailing the lurid details of the curse and the mysterious circumstances that befell many of the people present when Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered on November 4, 1922.

In addition to detailing the excavation and its historical significance, Fleming also acknowledges the problems with British colonizers coming to Egypt to excavate the country’s most precious artifacts–many of which still need to be repatriated even now.

The Curse of the Mummy is an entertaining introduction to both archaeology and ancient Egypt which also has a lot of new information to offer more seasoned readers. As to whether or not there is a curse on King Tut’s tomb, Fleming offers a very measured final chapter that largely debunks and tries to put to rest all theories about the curse as anything but a series of compelling coincidences. But some readers may still choose to believe.

The Lady Rogue: A Chick Lit Wednesday Review

Theodora wants nothing more than to join her father on his hunts around the world for priceless relics. Unfortunately, her father still sees Theo as a little girl instead of the capable researcher she has become at seventeen years of age.

While Theo sits at their hotel doing crosswords to pass the time, her father is out gallivanting his nineteen-year-old protégé Huck Gallagher–the boy Theo once thought she might love.

After a painful parting and a long separation, no one is more surprised than Theo when Huck shows up in Turkey with nothing but her father’s travel journal and instructions to get Theo to safety.

Theo has other ideas and soon the unlikely duo is combing through the travel journal as Theo tries to follow her father’s trail on his hunt for the legendary and supposedly magical bone ring of Vlad the Impaler. They hope that finding the ring will also lead them to Theo’s missing father. But Theo and Huck aren’t the only ones hunting the ring and Theo’s father may not be the only one in danger in The Lady Rogue (2019) by Jenn Bennett.

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The Lady Rogue is a standalone historical adventure set in 1937. With high speed chases, fast-pacing, and even some magic this story is an enjoyable homage to all of the things that make action movies like The Mummy (starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz) great.

Theo and Huck are a reluctant team at the start of this story which inspires much banter as well as regrets on both sides as the pair tries to make their way back to each other. Ciphers, puzzles, and excerpts from Richard Fox’s travel journal add to the story as Theo tries to follow Richard’s trail to the bone ring.

The Lady Rogue is a whip-smart adventure with hints of romance and the supernatural. As the book’s dedication suggests, The Lady Rogue is an ideal choice for meddlesome girls and anyone who’s ever been unable to walk away from a good puzzle.

Possible Pairings: The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress, The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee, The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell, Bloody Jack by L. A. Meyer, Every Hidden Thing by Kenneth Oppel, The Mummy (1997)

The Smoke Hunter: A Review

Ellie Mallory has few regrets when she loses her position as a government archivist after her arrest at a suffragist rally. Her exit ends with a neat bit of rebellion when Ellie grabs an unassuming Psalter that has been mis-catalogued.

Inside the book Ellie finds a mysterious stone with odd carvings along with a map to a hidden city that shouldn’t exist. The map claims to lead the way to a Mayan city deep in the jungle that was flourishing long after the civilization’s collapse. Finding the city could make Ellie’s career and open doors for her that have long been barred because of her gender.

When pursuers threaten to take Ellie’s prize out from under her, she embarks on a journey on her own to Belize City where she plans to mount her own expedition and find the city first. Ellie reluctantly hires on Adam Bates, a local surveyor and experienced explorer, to help her reach the hidden location.

As Ellie and Adam approach their destination there realize there is more at stake than credit for an unprecedented discovery. Dark forces are at work and Ellie and Adam are being drawn to their source in The Smoke Hunter (2016) by Jacquelyn Benson.

The Smoke Hunter is Benson’s debut novel.

The Smoke Hunter unfortunately has a slow start. A prologue dating from 1632 sets the scene but also delays drawing readers into the story. Despite the breakneck pacing and constant action, Ellie’s journey is slow to start with substantial setup as she discovers the map and also as she works to begin her exhibition.

Stilted dialogue and overlaps in the narrative from chapters that alternate close third-person point of view work to create an uneasy distance between readers and what should be a plot filled with urgency and immediacy.

Ellie and Adam are unlikely allies and a powerful force as they learn to trust each other and work together over the course of The Smoke Hunter. Readers willing to put in time with the setup in the beginning will be rewarded with a story filled with light adventure and high action.

Possible Pairings: Heart of Fire by Linda Howard, The Secret Sister by Elizabeth Lowell, Every Hidden Thing by Kenneth Oppel, Sandstorm by James Rollins, Indiana Jones, Romancing the Stone

Every Hidden Thing: A Review

The Badlands are rich fossil country. At a time when history is being rewritten and archaeology is largely unregulated, it’s easy for anyone to get into fossil hunting and make their name.

Samuel Bolt’s father has no degree and no position, but he has countless fossil discoveries and publications of his findings. While Professor Bolt is reckless and heedless of consequences, he is a well-known and popular personality among the fossil collection community. Samuel learned his love of fossil hunting from his father but he is eager for a time when he can strike out on his own and make his own name in the field.

Rachel Cartland’s father is a respected Ivy League professor and the head of a university archaeology department. He tolerates Rachel as an able assistant but he is slow to accept her ambitions for a university education and her own work as an archaeologist.

Cartland and Bolt are bitter rivals but when they meet, Samuel quickly finds himself drawn to Rachel in a way he hasn’t felt for other girls before. Rachel, meanwhile, is immediately thrilled by the way Samuel sees her both as an attractive young woman and as an equal.

Both the Bolts and the Cartlands arrive at the Badlands in search of an elusive rex–a king dinosaur that promises to be the largest fossil ever discovered. As rivalries flare and romance blossoms, both Rachel and Samuel will have to decide how much they are willing to sacrifice in pursuit of this once-in-a-lifetime discovery in Every Hidden Thing (2016) by Kenneth Oppel.

Find it on Bookshop.

Every Hidden Thing is a fascinating standalone historical fiction novel.

While the time period is never stated explicitly, Oppel does an admirable job of setting the scene of the early 1900s when fossil hunting and archaeology gained momentum (and respectability) in the US.

Inspired a real rivalry (which Oppel explains in his author’s note), Every Hidden Thing has been pitched as Romeo & Juliet meets Indiana Jones. While not as tragic as the former or as high action as the latter, this description is surprisingly accurate and will appeal to fans of both stories.

Written in alternating first person narration, this novel carefully builds both Samuel and Rachel’s characters. By overlapping the narration at key moments, the motivations behind some of Rachel’s calculating choices and Samuel’s heedless actions are also carefully detailed.

Every Hidden Thing is a well-researched piece of historical fiction. Rachel and Samuel are immediately sympathetic but also remain convincingly grounded in their time as both characters grapple with limitations (Rachel’s gender and for Samuel his lower class status) and the rigors of an archaeological dig. Recommended for fans of historical fiction, star-crossed lovers, and readers interested in dinosaurs and fossil hunting.

Possible Pairings: The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett, Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson, Speak Easy, Speak Love by McKelle George, The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee, Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, Nothing But Sky by Amy Trueblood, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters, Indiana Jones (movie)