Set largely during the reign of King Tutankhamen, this treasure-filled mystery will have other writers regretfully murmuring, "Tut, tut." The third novel by Austin's Carol Thurston, it brims with mummies, gods, and pharaohs, providing a mega-fix for Egyptophiles and a great read for everyone else. The Eye of Horus begins in a present-day museum, as illustrator Kate McKinnon recreates, in crayon, the appearance of the highborn lady Tashat, a resident mummy who lived 33 centuries before. Kate immediately unwraps a mystery: Tashat's ribs and hand are broken, and between her legs lies a man's skull. Here the author begins neatly interweaving Kate's story with that of the physician Senakhtenre, whom we meet when he delivers the seventh daughter of Nefertiti. Are the child and Tashat one and the same? Thurston's knowledge of Egypt is wonderfully detailed, and a budding romance keeps the newer adventures lively too. The writing isn't perfect—the dialogue can be a bit awkward and the pacing choppy—but overall it's a most satisfying way to fritter away a few grains of the sands of time. Reviewed by Anne Dingus
Darryl Wimberley
Dead Man’s Bay: A Case for Barrett Raines
Thomas Dunne Books
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It is, perhaps, damning with faint praise, but for a great summer read you can't do much better than Austinite Darryl Wimberley's Dead Man's Bay: A Case for Barrett Raines (Thomas Dunne Books). When we find the detective wrapping himself around a cold beer at 7:45 of a workday morning, we know fortune has not smiled on the favorite son of Deacon Beach, Florida. His life is a shambles until a dead-ended murder investigation leads him on a slow climb back to the land of the living. Dead Man's Bay is as comfortable and quirky as family but with sass and wit. If you don't love Raines, put two fingers on your wrist and check your pulse. Reviewed by Mike Shea
Curt Sampson
Royal and Ancient: Blood, Sweat, and Fear at the British Open
Villard
A nodding acquaintance with golf is sufficient to enjoy Royal and Ancient: Blood, Sweat, and Fear at the British Open (Villard), by Bristol's Curt Sampson. The book retraces Jean Van De Velde's inglorious loss at the 1999 Open, but its heart is the historical (and sometimes hysterical) evolution of the world's first professional golf tournament. His irreverence ("Mary Queen of Scots teed up in 1567 shortly before her long imprisonment and her brief beheading") takes some of the starch out of the golf establishment. Reviewed by Mike Shea
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