| Title | : | The African Quest (Lara McClintoch Archeological Mystery, #5) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0425183130 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780425183137 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 304 |
| Publication | : | First published February 1, 2001 |
The African Quest (Lara McClintoch Archeological Mystery, #5) Reviews
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I am still reading my way through the archaeological mystery series by the late Lyn Hamilton about antique dealer Lara McClintoch and loving them.
In THE AFRICAN QUEST, Lara's business partner, ex-husband Clive Swain has just taken a marketing course and has an idea of how to get publicity and sales for their store. He suggests that they have an antiques and archaeology tour to the northern African country of Tunisia. They might make some money and with the travel writer he will ask to go for free, some publicity as well. Since Lara has a movie star's 10 bedroom house to find decorations for, it can serve as a business trip as well.
The only person she knows is Emile as he is an old friend who buys and sells rare old coins and might be up to something crooked and dangerous. The other tour members include Catherine, a widow who was used to traveling first class until her husband died; Susie, the snoopy widow who Catherine rooms with for a while; Jimmy, an American racist and bigot with a big mouth and his embarrassed wife Betty; a gay couple Ben and Ed; model Aziza and her husband Curtis (who are being blackmailed by someone on the trip); Marlene and her whiny and strange 15 year old daughter Chastity who are at odds because the girl thinks her mother ran her dad off and Chastity is acting like a slutty little Lolita; Rick Reynolds who spends most of his time looking for phones and who Lara catches selling Catherine's stolen necklace and who gets murdered; Cliff, a man who lost his wife and suffered a heart attack, and Nora, a quiet but weird woman who seems obsessed with controlling Cliff and has deadly secrets.
Helping Lara on the trip are the staff at the Auberge du Palmier (where Lara had her honeymoon with Clive 20 years earlier) Silvie and Chantal; a marine archaeologist sexy Briars who also happens to be looking for an ancient treasure that was shipwrecked thousands of years earlier so he can share the find with the world unlike his enemy who used to be his friend who is also trying to find it but for his own profit; and Jamila, a tour guide.
Not helping Lara, is the travel writer Kristi who drinks Gin like it is water and runs up phone bills (her trip is being paid for by Lara and Clive). When Lara finds her diary, it is full of whining about not getting diet cola and a list of people to write dirt on who are on the trip.
From these descriptions, you can imagine what the trip is like for Lara! And that is even before the dead bodies begin to pile up, someone rooting through luggage, mysterious trips at night where Lara follows two of the trip members and falls on top of a couple in the bushes having sex while trying to hide, mysterious drownings and fires, blackmail, secrets, and the rivalry between Briars and the arrogant Peter who both seek the treasure for different reasons which leads to sabotage, fires, and death. Lara also finds that Briars wants to seduce her which seems tempting right after calling her boyfriend, Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer Rob and finding him in bed with another woman.
I loved all of the information woven into the story about the history of the area and about shipwrecks. I especially love how the story of how the ancient ship came to be wrecked and why that cargo was aboard is woven into the story at the beginning of the chapters. I loved this story! -
Better then the earlier novels, Hamilton is getting better at integrating the archaeological material into the storyline. She's still a bit clumsy in parts but in this one she succeeded in surprising me a little by the end. The parallel with the ancient Phoenician storyline was well done.
This series still has room to grow but still not a waste of my time and I'm still enjoying the lead character who is not helpless and all defenceless woman, just a normal woman caught in somewhat strange situations. -
I really enjoy this series of books. Some of the books are a little easier to read than others. And the "background" of some of the books can get a little thick but, for the most part, this is a good series.
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This is yet another book I almost didn't finish, but once I got past the endless dialogue of the first chapter, the tale greatly improved. The setting was lovely. Biggest takeaway: never go into business with an ex.
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Lyn Hamilton's books are fascinating for the archaeology and history as well as the mystery!
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The further I get into this series, the more I like it! I found The African Quest to be very entertaining.
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Ovo je ustvari peti dio serijala o Lari McClintoch, koja je suvlasnica antikvarne radnje iz Toronta, a drugi je suvlasnik njen bivši muž (pretpostavljam da su njihova romansa, brak i razvod tema prethodnih dijelova). Ona je ujedno i pripovedač. Opisuje doživljaje koje su se dogodile njoj i grupi turista koje je ona vodila na ekskurziju antikviteta u Kartageni. Svako poglavlje počinje sa dogodovštinama na brodu u 4 stoljeću p.n.e., što ima veze sa dešavanjima u knjizi. Krimić koji otkriva i dobar dio povijesti Kartagine, što mi se posebno dopalo. Preporuka za sve koje vole misterije i krimiće.
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I savour Lyn Hamilton’s magnificent, intricate series. “The African Quest” involves a myriad of well-thought storylines that negate guessing. Lara McClintoch attempts tour-guiding. Tunisia, North Africa is beautifully felt on every page: food, nature, shops, ancient history, recent politics, artifacts, hospitality.... No one prepared settings better than Lyn. She really tested what tour-guiding was like! For my dear author, feedback is one star lighter for two reasons. Most fiction uses murder often enough to make us numb to bodies. That isn’t attributable to Lyn; it isn’t her normal axis. However each death is discovered without any éclat. Only twice nervousness builds-up.
Nonetheless, suspicion of members is ever present. Acquainting the motley crew doesn’t affect pacing and is necessary. Everything weaves around an excellent introduction to Tunisia, including a theorized shipwreck that would be historically monumental. It might have carried the unexpected hero after which Carthage was named: in 308 B.C! I think the sizzle of incidents and revelations is muted because the author couldn’t let us in on this many separate motives, early enough for us to feel that they are explosive. Especially near the end; when a solution or two dawns on Lara, the guilty party wrecks havoc simultaneously. The reader has no time to process why this information is shocking; thus this novel isn’t a taut, emotional adventure like her others.
We do understand why characters acted as they did. This novel comprises a complexity of plausible motives that make sense. They were clearly only made possible through rigorous research. Some solutions hinged on knowledge of specific antiquities! Additionally, every chapter begins with a glimpse of a sea voyage from two-thousand years ago. This novel never lapsed because, woven into a plethora of question marks, is an observant and eager portrayal of Tunisia that invites readers inside it. -
The story was very exciting. It had some moments that could have picked up the tempo but it was overall very good.
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There is a story within a story in this book. At the beginning of each chapter are vignettes that tell the story of an ancient Carthaginian merchant ship that sank over 2,000 years ago and what happened to its cargo. This is the basis for the modern-day story involving Laura McClintoch who is co-owner of a Toronto antiques store. I think this might be my favorite book in the series thus far. It is well plotted, complex, and engaging. There was a plethora of well-developed characters - most of which were quirky and had interesting backstories and motives for the various accidents and murders that take place. There are also great descriptions of Tunisia that includes the exotic location, history, culture, food, people, shops, and more.
Clive Swain, Laura's ex-husband and now her best friend Moira's lover, is her current business partner at McClintoch & Swain antique store. He has come up with a brilliant idea to have an antiques tour to promote free publicity for the shop. It will include lectures, sightseeing, an expert (Laura) to help make purchases and ship the stuff home, and great food. They decide on the North Coast of Africa, specifically Tunisia. Clive, of course, has lots of ideas about how the tour should be conducted but stays home to take care of the store. Laura, in her spare time, will be buying stuff for the store and antiques for a client's new house.
The participants who sign up are varied and all have reasons for joining the tour. They are Catherine Anderson who has never traveled economy, brings only the best items, and is the group snob; Susie Windermere is the resident gossip and busybody; Jimmy Johnstone, along with his wife Betty, is a racist and bigot who talks loudly; Benjamin Miller is a big teddy bear of a man and his handsome traveling companion, Edmund Langdon, are a couple who Jimmy thinks is gay but Laura thinks his conclusion is inconclusive; whiny 15-year-old Chastity Sherwood who acts like a slut during the trip and her mother Marlene; boring Richard Reynolds who is constantly on the phone doing business or is he?; Emile St. Laurent is a rare coin collector and a colleague of Laura's from Paris; celebrities Curtis Clark, who is a professional golfer, and his wife Aziza, A.K.A. Roslyn Clark, is a model; retired dentist Clifford Fielding; and his companion Nora Winslow (Laura describes her as trailer park trash with secrets) who has controlled him since his wife died and he had a heart attack.
Laura gets a call from Clive that he has invited Kristie Ellingham, a travel writer for a first-class magazine, to join the tour free of charge. She is to provide publicity, but she manages to drink too much and wracks up expensive phone calls while keeping a diary dishing the other participants which Laura accidentally finds. The trip starts out fine and everyone seems to get along, but strange accidents start happening. Catherine's gold necklace, Marlene's Swiss army knife, and $700 go missing. There is also a lot of intrigue going on amongst the group. Is it an accident or murder when Rick Reynolds is found dead in the swimming pool? Then Kristie Ellingham dies from smoke inhalation in a hotel fire - had she been drinking too much and passed out?
Briars Hatley is the resident historian and lecturer hired to be the tour guide for the group. He is also an archaeologist who is locked in a hugely competitive search for a 2,000-year-old shipwreck that should be offshore nearby. His rival is Peter Groves of Star Salvage who is also looking for the same wreck. He is searching for the money involved while Briars wants to find it for the historical knowledge that it contains. Then a fire aboard Groves salvage ship occurs and one of the crew is badly burned. Did Briars start it? The local police, specifically Ahmed Ben Osman, insist everyone must stay in the country while they investigate. Laura begins her own investigation because the trip is costing more money than anticipated. This tour could ruin her business!
There are plenty of red herrings and twists and turns. In one subplot, Laura is searching for a couple of antique puppets for clients when her source, Rashid, is also murdered. Could he also be involved with someone on the tour? In listing out the characters, I was reminded of the game of Clue. Have fun keeping track of them all. The climax has Chastity and Laura kidnapped by the murderer and racing through a landlocked dry salt lake trying to reach Libya. There is also a map of the area around Tunisia and a chronology of actual historical events referenced to in the story. This series should be read in order for character development and story advancement. Highly recommended. -
Its bad enough that Lara McClintoch has found herself once again partnered with her husband in the operation of her antiques store but then, he convinces her to lead an antiquities and archeology tour in South Africa.
Clive Swain can be convincing when he wants to and McClintoch is an optimistic person. How hard would it be, after all, she knows the country, and she can use her down time to buy additional merchandise for her shop. But Lara, should be familiar by now — this is the fifth book in the series, after all — that things can, and will, quickly go array.
As she meets her tour participants, McClintoch quickly pegs people, including Susie Windermere, group busybody; outspoken and negative Jimmy Johnstone, group bigot; Richard Reynolds, who bores everyone to tears with his repeated comments about how busy he was; and international model Azziza and her husband, Curtis.
The first evening, something happens. Widow Catherine Anderson discovers a gold necklace missing from her room, another tourist loses a pocket knife. And then there is a death. Lara realizes if she can not figure out what is going on, this tour could destroy her company.
Add to the strange happenings with the tour group, McClintoch also finds herself wrapped up in not only the problems and concerns of those she is responsible for, but also the troubles of Briars Hatley, a professor of archaeology currently on sabbatical and conducting archeological work in the area, who will provide historic lectures to the group. Very quickly, McClintoch finds out that she also doesn't know who to trust in the group. As the tour continues, McClintoch realizes she has to get down to the bottom of the mystery and with diligence she does.
The late Lyn Hamilton created an interesting mystery wrapped up in the history of the area in which it occurs. While it is hard to believe that all this is happening in one tour, it maintains readers interest. This is a cozy mystery to the nth degree: fun to read, fun to suspend belief a bit and good, comfortable reading right to the end. -
A murder mystery set in Tunisia amidst at guided tour and also the search for an ancient shipwreck.
Whilst the narrative seemed to get a little bogged down at times, largely it was much better than the earliest two books in the series. The blurb at the beginning of each chapter containing the narrative from the past was vastly better integrated into the story in this book than earlier ones.
Overall, it initially was feeling like a narrated game of Cluedo however as the plot expanded out from the hotel itself the feel of the story improved I felt. Once again the culprit is concealed well throughout the story with hints here and there but no directly identifiable perpetrator until they are revealed in the unfolding story and when done so it is not out of left field but rather the pieces simply fall into place. -
I'm starting to see a pattern with men to whom this main character is attracted- they are either the "bad guy" or not long for this life 😑 It's okay Lara, I have a history of pretty horrible taste too.
Other than that, I actually think I liked this book better than the previous 4. There are some many threads that come together just so, it's actually a bit impressive. However...I just can't get into these books! I struggle through the first 80% or so, and I don't give a toot about what will happen next until the very end. -
Fun mystery set in the modern day location of ancient Carthage.
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very good, just read it
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This one really held together better than some of the others. At first she introduced a LOT of characters, and that was overwhelming. But they sorted themselves out as I kept reading.
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(Note: I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads.)
A mystery set in Tunisia, part of a series of "archaeological mysteries" (which is a great concept for a series); the main character is an antiques dealer leading an archaeology/antiques tour group (primarily from America and Canada) around interesting Tunisian sites (particularly relating to ancient Carthage). They also become caught in the middle of a rivalry between two dive teams trying to locate an ancient shipwreck they know to be in the area. People get killed, it turns out that several people on the tour are harboring secrets... you know the drill.
The problems with this book are really problems common to its genre. First of all, there are a bit too many coincidences, and it's a bit hard to believe that this many people with secrets and hidden agendas would come together in a group like this. Second: in order to really keep readers guessing whodunit, there needs to be a generous cast of characters. But this prevents the author from developing many of them very thoroughly; for most of the book, most of the characters come across as one-note caricatures. To her credit, that's not really true anymore by the end of the book; most of the characters have developed a bit more complexity. But it's true for long enough that many readers will have already formed their opinions about the book.
For the most part, though, it's a fun read if you like mysteries; particularly because of its unusual setting. Attempts to analyze events to guess 'whodunit' will be stymied by the fact that not all the bad deeds are done by the same person; some details can be figured out easily enough before the author reveals them, but it would be tough to figure out everything. -
I'm glad the author didn't stick with this format of running archaeological tours because this is probably my least favorite of the series. The location was interesting, and the historical details were fascinating, as usual, but the cast of characters seemed a little flat to me. It didn't help that Lara kept classifying them as "group busybody" and "group athlete" and so forth.
The premise of all these interconnected people showing up on the same tour, the shop's initial (and thankfully only) offering, also just didn't make any sense. I could see a couple of them, with the rest being introduced as they explore the area, having arrived independently, but this was all much too pat. I also found it a little ridiculous that they just happened to be the right size group to completely fill their hotel, with no room for any other guests. Oh, except they were able to conveniently accommodate one late addition with a private room while every other hotel was booked solid due to a local festival. Really?
Not my favorite, but I admit I'm only this critical because the others are so much better. -
Another Lara McClintoch mystery, and a pretty good one about treasure on a shipwreck off the coast of Tunisia. My only quarrel is the overwhelming number of characters involved.
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While many aspects of this book kept me intrigued, I was never completely drawn in. At times, Lyn Hamilton had me turning the pages, eager to find out what would happen next, but that would immediately be contrasted against the times when I had to keep myself from skipping entire chunks of the story. I was surprised at the amount of menial conversations that somehow made it through to the final edit. This story could've packed so much more punch if there hadn't been so many draggy bits...
My rating is a solid 3.5 stars. -
This historical novel takes place in Tunisia. A tour group has arrived in North Africa to explore the ruins, but it doesn't go as planned. A member of their group is murdered, treasures hunters fight for control of a shipwreck that they need to locate, another murder, and the tour group leader tried to solve the murders.
The book keeps you involved and guessing.
I enjoyed the book and won it on Goodreads. -
I only read this because I’m going to Tunisia soon, and I hoped to get some local colour, such as her other books seem to have plenty of. I guess Hamilton didn’t put in much time in Tunisia, though. Sigh. I’m done with this series. It doesn’t stink, but it’s not great either and there are just so many books out there I want to read….
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The mysteries in this series are rather light-weight, but they continue to be enjoyable because of the interesting settings. This one takes place in Tunisia. There are far too many murderers and potential murderers on the small tour Lara McClintoch is leading, but it's easy to suspend disbelief and just enjoy the story.
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This installment is yet another easy to read mystery with lots of suspects, interesting history and cultures and all the other things that make a cozy mystery a treat.
This one is set in Tunisia and Lara is taking a group of people on an antiques and archaeology tour when of course the tourists start dropping.
If you like cozy mysteries you will like this. -
Good dual stories. Cozy type mystery--came highly recommended from a friend, mostly because of the archaeological aspect. Set in ancient Carthage/Modern Tunisia. Would recommend to Agatha Christie fans. Not my usual cuppa, but I did enjoy it.
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This was the first book I read by this author, and it was just ok. It reminded me of the game CLUE - lots of suspects, and you have to read the book to find out whodunnit. I doubt I will read anything by this author again; I prefer other authors.
