Treasure of the Golden Cheetah: A Jade del Cameron Mystery

Arruda's over-the-top fifth historical to feature photojournalist and former army nurse Jade del Cameron (after Jan. 2009's The Leopard's Prey ) fails to live up to its promising concept. Accompanied by her tame cheetah, Biscuit, Jade guides an expedition up Kenya's Mount Kilimanjaro in 1920 to film a motion picture about King Solomon's son. When an African native stabs Graham Wheeler, the film's producer, then plunges the murder weapon into his own chest, Jade once again turns amateur sleuth. The official verdict on Wheeler's killing—that it was the act of a lone, now deceased mad man—doesn't satisfy Jade's American lover, Sam Featherstone, and sure enough, more violence follows. Arruda's superhuman lead, who charges a lion at one point to protect Biscuit's meal of an antelope, might gain more credibility in future exploits if she were to engage in fewer improbable heroics. (Sept.)