BRIGHT HAIR ABOUT THE BONE

Letty Talbot (The Tomb of Zeus, 2007) lets her flapper gumption loose on a dig in Burgundy.

Letty’s beloved godfather Daniel Thorndon dies mysteriously while researching ancient artifacts in the French village of Fontigny-Saint-Reine. Just before his death, he sends a coded message to Letty, who scurries to the continent with lapsed chaplain William Gunning at her side for protection. Using an assumed name, Letty secures a position with the team of archeologists working under Charles Paradee. Though it unearths little that’s noteworthy, the dig becomes the repository of the corpse of a stable boy working at the chateau of dishy Edmond d’Aubec. D’Aubec invites Letty into his library, where her godfather had been translating old manuscripts containing clues about Mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, as well as some Celtic goddess figures. Did Daniel reveal Christ’s truly favorite disciple and a gospel that will upend traditional church teaching? Are scurrilous hands at work to see that doesn’t happen? Are forces conspiring to use religious fervor as a wedge to clamp down on a certain Bavarian’s brand of National Socialism? Equally important: Will everyone dress for dinner? More mayhem ensues—killings, arson, romantic vengeance—before Gunning can return Letty to her doorstep.

The religious malarkey has been done before, and better. Isn’t it time to put an end to handsome men laying nefarious proposals at the feet of plucky heroines?