The Crocodile's Last Embrace

Starred review from July 19, 2010
Set in Kenya in 1921, Arruda's rip-roaring sixth Jade del Cameron mystery (after 2009's Treasure of the Golden Cheetah) finds the motorcycle-riding photojournalist tangling with an old nemesis who's as slippery as a crocodile. Lilith Worthy, mother of Jade's lost WWI love, David Worthy, has escaped from her London prison and is out for revenge. The crooked widow hates Jade and her associates, Lord and Lady Avery Dunbury, who helped her late husband's illegitimate son, Pili, claim half her husband's estate. Now David, who died in Jade's arms, appears to be sending Jade taunting messages from the grave (e.g., "Why did you let me die?"). Murders connected to a gold mine scheme provide extra intrigue, while Jade yearns for the return of her boyfriend, pilot Sam Featherston. Jade, a female Indiana Jones with a touch of Elizabeth Peters's Amelia Peabody, and Biscuit, her companion cheetah, make a vibrant duo.

July 15, 2010

A spate of killings, a deadly crocodile and a vengeful ghost plague an intrepid heroine.

Nairobi, 1921. As an anonymous man secretly watches bold, beautiful Jade del Cameron, he regrets that he's been ordered to "break" her. Recently returned to her beloved Kenya after a stint in France, emancipated Jade busies herself by helping her friend Beverly Dunbury instruct the local Girl Guides academy. Expecting a letter from her beau Sam Featherstone, Jade is flummoxed by vivid memories of her long-dead husband David Worthy, whom she wed during World War I. She's unsettled by an accusatory letter in David's handwriting. Shortly after, Jade is an ear-witness to a suspicious accident involving a car on a bridge. Constable Miller agrees with her conclusion that Stockton, the driver, was murdered. Meanwhile, Jade begins to have hallucinations that involve seeing David and getting ominous messages from him. Waters, the chief suspect in the bridge murder, falls victim to a ravenous crocodile. At Jade's instigation, however, Miller determines that Waters was killed before the deadly predator dragged him into the water. Attempts to shoot the beast go awry. Comic relief comes in the person of Steven Holly, so besotted with Jade that he disguises himself as a female teacher in order to tag along on a school trip and woo her.

Jade's sixth adventure (Treasure of the Golden Cheetah, 2009, etc.) lacks finesse as a mystery, but keeps the action coming and packs its evocative landscape with sharply drawn characters, especially the likable, unsinkable Jade.

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Starred review from August 1, 2010

In her sixth adventure (after The Leopard's Prey), photojournalist Jade del Cameron has returned to her Kenyan home after a European trip, haunted by her memories of serving as an ambulance driver during World War I. Because of her indecision about marriage, Sam Featherstone has gone back to the States, leaving Jade unsettled. And then someone begins a campaign to undercut Jade's self-assurance and drive her into madness. Could it be the evil Lilith, archcriminal and mother of Jade's dead fiance? Jade's adventures will leave readers breathless as she battles her inner demons and the villain determined to harm those she holds dear. VERDICT Arruda sets her historical series in post-World War I Africa, with the trappings of dangerous intrigue and the very real tension between native Africans and European settlers. The hallmark of this series is intense suspense and strong, assertive women, be they good or bad, and Arruda's latest is no exception. Do not miss this one. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 4/1/10.]

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