A museum researcher must solve a decades-old murder before she becomes the killer’s next victim in this riveting dual timeline thriller set in Papua and the Netherlands.Agats, Dutch New Guinea (Papua), 1961: While collecting Asmat artifacts for a New York museum, American anthropologist Nick Mayfield stumbles upon a smuggling ring organized by high-ranking members of the Dutch colonial government … organized by high-ranking members of the Dutch colonial government and the Catholic Church. Before he can alert the authorities, he vanishes in a mangrove swamp, never to be seen again.
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2018: While preparing for an exhibition of Asmat artifacts in a Dutch ethnographic museum, researcher Zelda Richardson finds Nick Mayfield’s journal in a long-forgotten crate. Before Zelda can finish reading the journal, her housemate is brutally murdered and ‘Give back what is not yours’ is scrawled on their living room wall.
Someone wants ancient history to stay that way—and believes murder is the surest way to keep the past buried.
Can she solve a sixty-year-old mystery before decades of deceit, greed, and retribution cost Zelda her life?
- Awarded a B.R.A.G. Medallion by indieBRAG’s readers in December 2018
- One of Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews’ Top 20 Books of 2018
- Winner of a Chill with a Book Readers’ Award, June 2018
- A Women Writers, Women’s Books magazine’s Recommended Reads for March 2018
- New Apple’s 2018 Summer Book Awards, Official Selection Mystery/Thriller category
- BookLife Prize for Fiction 2018, Mystery/Thriller category, rating 8.50
Art, religion and history collide in this edge-of-your-seat museum thriller, Book Two of the Zelda Richardson Mystery Series. The novels in this series can be read in any order.more
Definitely interesting story. really enjoyed
Was looking to read about some guy wearing a penis gourd picking Michael Rockefeller out of his teeth. Not exactly that but close enough to be entertaining.
totally enjoyed story line and authors writing style
Finishing up her internship for her museum studies program, Zelda helps them organise an exhibit of Asmat Art, gathered from Dutch New Guinea. Stumbling across an old diary she manages to solve a 50 year old disappearance (by making a copy for herself) and uncover an art smuggling ring, but not without considerable danger to herself and her circle of friends.
I love museums and I love anthropology/archaeology, so a novel with ethnographic museum relics was delicious. The relics in this instance were New Guinea bis poles,which I had never heard of so it gave me an opportunity to look them up. Fascinating art. The museums mentioned in the book were real places, so I got to look those up as well. The book switched back and forth between 1962 New Guinea when the items were being collected and modern day Amsterdam when an exhibit was being arranged. Despite the author’s adamant denials, the collector back in the day was VERY similar to the real Michael Rockefeller. The fictional Nick Mayfield came from a wealthy east coast family, disappeared in 1962 (Rockefeller in ’61), both were collectors in the Asmat cultural region of the island, both swam to shore from capsized catamarans before vanishing, and both were murdered, albeit in different circumstances. By changing the name, though, the author could be freer with fictional story construction. Fun reading.
I found an interesting look into museums, Papau New Guinea, Asmats and the black market all folded into a good story.
I loved Zelda! Great characters!
Not quite as good as the first one but once interest is captured it’s a very good read,
Rituals of the Dead #2 – This is my first read by this author and I found it interesting. The storylines flip back and forth between 2017 and 1962. This made for an intriguing suspense although it was easy to figure where the missing person ended up.
The characters were interesting enough to keep me immersed in the pages, along with the author’s easy to read writing style. The descriptions were well done as was the dialog and thought patterns of the characters.
I found this book somewhere but when I contacted the author to review Marked for Revenge, I read it first since it turns out this is a series. 4*
Marked for Revenge #3 – This book begins with her thesis being critiqued and three months into a new job at a new location. An interesting story of art theft and revenge, which had enough of the real world mixed with the fiction to hold the reader’s attention until the last page.
The descriptions are well done, the storylines believable and interesting, and the characters and their dialog were also well done. One of the Dutch laws about stolen art blew my mind, but I understand the reasoning behind it. I found this book on Booksprout. 4*
agnificent
First, I’m a big fan of Alderson’s, and I’ve read her other books, The Lover’s Portrait: An Art Mystery, Down and Out in Kathmandu: Adventures in Backpacking, and Notes of a Naive Traveler: Nepal and Thailand. I was impressed by the first book and continued to love her work. When I heard about this one, Rituals of the Dead, I was already excited to read it. Now, with all that said, I need to dive right into this story. Even when I like or love an author’s work, I never have any preconceived notions about whether or not I will like the book or not. From chapter one, I was drawn in, very curious about Nick and wondering where he or his life would fall in to the life of Zelda. Alderson is a grand writer, and I like her writing style. Her research and knowledge are shown within the story, and her characters. I like Zelda, and always have, and this book brings more depth to her character, and sets her on a new mystery. I love that she’s human, and has to prevent herself from getting sick in the most presence of the most gruesome scenes of death and decay. Look forward to more. Simply magnificent, filled with intrigue and suspense, and a lot of wonder!