Secrets of the Nile is the 16th Lady Emily cozy mystery by Tasha Alexander. Released 4th Oct 2022 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
The author is prolific and adept. She does a more than capable job setting the scene and time period with both the dialogue and by wrapping the fiction skillfully around a framework of actual historical occurrences. The mystery itself is cleverly constructed and full of fair play clues which invite readers to figure out "whodunnit" alongside the story.
There plot is driven on parallel storytelling, with one main subplot set in dynastic ancient Egypt and the other in the "current" timeline (Late Victorian period). The two distinctly different threads didn't mesh particularly well for me, even through the denouement and resolution.
The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 10 hours, 5 minutes and is capably narrated by Bianca Amato. She has a distinct South African accent, but I didn't find it obtrusive or indeed obvious at all after the first few minutes of narration. She has a pleasantly modulated voice and she's adept at giving all the characters distinct and distinguishable voices. I had no trouble following along at all, and alternated listening with reading the ebook.
It's partly an homage to Christie, but Ms. Alexander's writing stands perfectly well on its own merits. Heartily recommended to fans of the series; potentially also recommended for fans of the canonical works. Although the setup, mystery, denouement, and resolution are self-contained, there's a significant amount of development in earlier books which will partially spoil the characters and their relationships if read out of order. With 16 books extant in the series, it would make a great choice for a binge read, especially for fans of golden age and historical mysteries.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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