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Detective Sam Diamond is having lunch with her sister when she receives a phone call from her new boss, the Minister of Cultural Affairs, to get to the Museum of Victoria. The building had been closed to the public for months while the new Museum was being built, but one of the curators had just been found dead. The new building was to host a travelling exhibit of artefacts curated by Dr. Marcus Bridger and entitled "Rites of Death and Life" with examples from all over the world which was timed to coincide with ICOM '98, the International Conference of Museums, which actually took place in Melbourne in 1998. Maggie Tremaine, Australian archeologist, is currently in Paris trying to negotiate a compromise between representatives of Peru and Chile, as to who owns a fnatastic Inca bracelet. However, during the negotiations, Maggie is informed that the ownership of the bracelet has become moot: the shipment containing it has been hijacked. Maggie goes home to Sydney. She no sooner gets there, however, than she is summoned to Melbourne, to help with the investigation, Maggie and Sam go to Egypt and then to Peru in search of clues as to why there have been a series of deaths, one in every city at the time of the appearance on the "Rites of Death" exhibition. This was a fun book to read. Perhaps a bit over the top, but Maggie and Sam are gr people I'd like to spend more time with. This was written for ICOM '98 and was serialized at that time, which is perhaps why there is no great feeling for Australia, while Peru and Egypt are described in very distinctive terms. This almost could have taken place almost anywhere. Note: It is very frustrating that so few Australian books find their way over the oceans but you can order from Australian Online Bookshop http://www.bookworm.com.au.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, January 2002
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