The Gilded Cat

``I have gotten power over the spells which are mine . . . my parents will not wake up.'' Maggie has acquired mysterious powers since she found the mummy cat and met up with a sinister museum curator. But the ancient Egyptian magic that allows her to sneak out and visit the mummy's tomb begins to exert a force over her that she cannot control. As Maggie finds herself inexorably drawn into the story of the cat and its owner, the boy King Thutmose, she comes to realize that she is being used as a tool of destruction by the ghost of his evil uncle, bringing danger to herself and her family. Dexter takes the thrilling and chilling subject of mummies and envelops it in a well-organized, yet spontaneous mystery that makes splendid use of suspense while painlessly imparting information on an engrossing historical period. Maggie is a sparkling heroine, filled with scientific curiosity, and the reader is both entertained and educated by the discoveries she makes about Egyptian spiritual beliefs. Ages 9-up. (Apr.)