The Cairo Curse by Pepper Basham

The Cairo Curse
by Pepper Basham

ISBN-13: 9781636094724
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Barbour Fiction
Released: February 1st 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Newlyweds Lord and Lady Astley have already experienced their fair-share of suspense, but when a honeymoon trip takes a detour to the mystical land of Egypt, not even Grace with her fiction-loving mind is prepared for the dangers in store. From an assortment of untrustworthy adventure-seekers to a newly discovered tomb with a murderous secret, Frederick and Grace must lean on each other to navigate their dangerous surroundings. As the suspects mount in an antiquities’ heist of ancient proportions, will Frederick and Grace’s attempts to solve the mystery lead to another death among the sands?


My Review:
The Cairo Curse is a Christian mystery set in 1914 in England and Egypt. This is the second book in a series, and you can understand it without reading the first book. However, this book did refer to many events in the first book, including potentially spoiling that mystery.

Grace is full of enthusiasm and a lively imagination fueled by books. She gets a thrill from adventure, and I love how resourceful she is in the face of unexpected adventures. However, a couple of times, she came across as unexpectedly lacking in common sense. Near the beginning, she dashed off by herself into a crowd of Egyptians rather than taking the simple precaution of bringing one of the servants with her or taking a moment to step inside a shop to tell her husband what's going on. I'm not as adventurous as Grace, but having been in Cairo once, it felt unrealistic and foolish for her to dash off like that. I wasn't even clear as to why the carriage didn't just take her on to the hotel, which would have made sense. On the other hand, the bit near the end where Grace tried to bind a wound like in a novel (showing how novels aren't always realistic) was pricelessly funny to me.

The main characters were engaging, kind, and honorable. Grace and Frederick built each other up and supported each other. Both asked questions and looked for clues--Grace in ways reflecting the novels that she's read while Frederick did more based on life experience and trying to keep Grace safe while having her adventure. There were clues and whodunit was guessable, though who was responsible for exactly what wasn't always obvious until revealed.

Grace referred to God throughout the book in little comments related to what they were seeing or doing. She had confidence in what would happen to her if she died. There was no bad language. There were no sex scenes, though there was some extending kissing and undressing at the very end. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable, humorous novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.