Barnabas Tew is a private detective struggling to survive in his trade in Victorian London. Fearing that he is not as clever as he had hoped to be, he is plagued by a lack of confidence brought on in no small part by his failure to prevent the untimely deaths of several of his clients. Matters only get worse when Anubis, the Egyptian God of the Dead, is referred to Barnabas by a former client … client (who perished in a terribly unfortunate incident which was almost certainly not Barnabas’ fault). Anubis sends for Barnabas (in a most uncivilized manner) and tells him that the scarab beetle in charge of rolling the sun across the sky every day has been kidnapped, and perhaps dismembered entirely.
The Land of the Dead is in chaos, which will soon spill over into the Land of the Living if Barnabas – together with his trusty assistant, Wilfred – cannot set matters to right. Pulled from his predictable (if unremarkable) life in Marylebone, Barnabas must match his wits against the capricious and dangerous Egyptian gods in order to unravel the mystery of the missing beetle and thereby save the world.
Read the whole series:
Barnabas Tew and The Case of The Missing Scarab
Barnabas Tew and The Case of The Nine Worlds
Barnabas Tew and The Case of The Cursed Serpent
Barnabas Tew and The Case of The Enlightened Cow
more
This story is funny, unique and quirky. A blend of Victorian dectective work with all things Egyptian Gods, I loved this book so much. I really enjoyed the depictions of various gods and goddesses, and thought it was a fun mix of information to throw in – although, it was a bit overwhelming for someone who isn’t super knowledgeable about them.
Barnabas Tew is one of the most refreshing characters I have read to date. I love his quirkiness, and found myself laughing a lot in this novel. I love how he has big aspirations, and wishes to become a famous detective like his idol Sherlock Holmes – and it’s hilarious as he tries to succeed in this notion. I also really enjoyed Barnabas’ loyal assistant, Wilfred, who is super clever.
Columbkill Noonan manages to weave a fascinating story with quirky characters that left me just so happy to have read this one. The dialogue flows naturally, and these characters are just so well developed – which if you’ve read my reviews, you know is important to me. I could visualize Barnabas and Wilfred bantering back and forth so well.
Overall, Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Missing Scarab, was a funny and entertaining read with lots of Victorian London, Egyptian gods and goddesses, fantasy and silliness! I highly recommend checking this one out if you’re a fan of humorous mysteries and fantastic characters.
*I received this book as part of a blog tour. All opinions are my own.*
BARNABAS TEW AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING SCARAB
by Columbkill Noonan
The First Barnabas Tew Mystery
Barnabas Tew had visions of becoming the next Sherlock Holmes. Apart from having an amiable assistant and a kindly landlady, Barnabas Tew was, sadly, nothing like Sherlock Holmes. In fact, he simply wasn’t a good detective at all. However, he did have one satisfied customer who recommended his services. Unfortunately, said services were recommended to Anubis, Egyptian god of the dead, who had no problem bringing Barnabas to the Underworld to solve a kidnapping. Now Barnabas and his assistant, Wilfred, have to deal with a variety of difficult gods in order to prevent the destruction of the world!
I love this delightfully different book. I have always had an interest in Egyptology and enjoy the Victorian time period. Connect these two, add some humor and a mystery and I’m sold! One of my favorite things about the book is the humor. I was chuckling at the situations, and the dialogue, more than once, had me laughing out loud. Great characterization humanizes not only our detectives, but the assortment of gods they encounter. As silly as things sometimes get, there remains a depth of feeling. Barnabas and Wilfred try their best and we admire them and root for them to succeed and be happy.
BARNABAS TEW AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING SCARAB is highly entertaining and immensely pleasurable, if somewhat preposterous. A fussy, not too terribly clever Victorian detective is thrown into the Egyptian Underworld and forced to deal with capricious gods. It is simply great fun!
FTC Disclosure – The publisher sent me a digital ARC in the hopes I would review it.
Barnabas Tew fancies himself a detective. In school, he became enamored of the tales of Sherlock Holmes and decided he too had the requisite skills of deduction and logic. Upon graduation, he set himself up in Marylebone, got himself an assistant and waited for cases and acclaim. Sadly, our hero, who is as wide as he is tall, and tends to go off on verbal tangents at every opportunity, didn’t do as well as he expected… at least not in this life.
In BARNABAS TEW AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING SCARAB, Barnabas and his assistant, Wilfred Colby decide that without a case at hand, they will go to the museum to see the new Egyptian mummy exhibit. There was no entry fee which suited their sparse pocketbooks just fine. It is nearly closing time when Barnabas and Wilfred finally get close to seeing the main attraction. Suddenly, it would seem that they are alone in the museum. Thus begins their adventure in the Egyptian afterlife.
Along with Barnabas, Wilfred, and various Egyptian gods, there is an omniscient, if parenthetical, voice that explains much of what is said by our two English gentlemen as they navigate from one animal headed god to the next.
As is so often the case, the great detective in the story just doesn’t know as much as he would like others to think he knows; therefore, he needs a stalwart companion to smooth the way and fill in the blanks. Columbkill Noonan takes us for a humorous romp through Egyptian mythology that is most unique.
There are four books in the Barnabas Tew series, and it would appear that they need to be read in order. At the end of The Case of the Missing Scarab, Barnabas and Wilfred are referred to their next case, thus one book runs into the next. So no cliffhanger, but continuity seems to dictate reading order.