The Serpent’s Daughter: A Jade del Cameron Mystery

Set in 1920, Arruda’s captivating third Jade del Cameron mystery (after 2006’s Stalking Ivory ) takes the feisty photojournalist and explorer to Morocco. Jade and her exceedingly proper mother, Inez, have agreed to meet in Tangier to try to mend their contentious relationship. When Inez is kidnapped, Jade’s desperate search leads her first to Marrakech and then to a Berber village high in the Atlas Mountains, dodging drug smugglers, slave traders and Jade’s old nemesis, Lilith Worthy. Arruda laces her story (sometimes a bit awkwardly) with the myths, history, customs and crafts of the people who live in Morocco and the Maghreb (“the land of the western sun”), particularly the little-known Berbers. Jade’s escapades should appeal to fans of Elizabeth Peters’s Amelia Peabody series or the Indiana Jones movies. (Jan.)