While this novel isn't my favourite of M.M. Kaye's "Death" series of murder mysteries (it's fairly easy to figure out who the murderer is), it's a fun read. It's got the standard features of her books: a spirited heroine, a tough, intelligent hero/love interest, and a gorgeous setting. Kaye's novels are always set in exotic locations she either lived in or visited while "following the drum" with her husband, a British army officer. Her descriptions of these locales really lend a sense of place and time, painting verbal pictures of far flung corners of a world which was much different than it is today. Also, this book gets points for referencing a poem by Richard Lovelace which I've always enjoyed: To Amarantha, That She Would Dishevel Her Hair.
I'm currently rereading M.M. Kaye's Death In Cyprus, published in 1956 but set in 1949 which is when Kaye visited the island while her husband was stationed in Egypt. This makes the novel very much a period piece as it occurs before Cypriot independence, the military coup, or the Turkish invasion... to name a few incidents in Cyprus' rather troubled history. The protagonist is 21 year old Amanda Derrington who, throwing off the coils of her overprotective guardian/ uncle, is vacationing on the island. Unfortunately, her first foray into independence gets off to a rocky start when, on the ship to Cyprus, she switches cabins with a woman who subsequently commits suicide. In the cabin which had originally been intended for the deceased woman, Amanda finds something which makes her believe that the suicide may have actually been murder. Her suspicions seem justified when an attempt is made on her life on the island. While this novel isn't my favourite of M.M. Kaye's "Death" series of murder mysteries (it's fairly easy to figure out who the murderer is), it's a fun read. It's got the standard features of her books: a spirited heroine, a tough, intelligent hero/love interest, and a gorgeous setting. Kaye's novels are always set in exotic locations she either lived in or visited while "following the drum" with her husband, a British army officer. Her descriptions of these locales really lend a sense of place and time, painting verbal pictures of far flung corners of a world which was much different than it is today. Also, this book gets points for referencing a poem by Richard Lovelace which I've always enjoyed: To Amarantha, That She Would Dishevel Her Hair.
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