These have taken a decidedly silly turn. I loved the touch of the supernatural in the first one, related as it was to an Isak Dinesen anecdote. But now that ghosts, visions, gypsies, amulets, and spells have become a larger part of the plot, I couldn't be less interested. ( )

Good but very different from the first two. The adventure plot is second in this novel to the psychological plot of the relationship between Jade and her mother Inez. This is a mother/daughter journey where the whole spirit of the Berber people is used as a prop almost. Not that the plot isn't good it's just a tool to move along Jade and Inez from point A to point B in their relationship, freeing in a way Jade for the next book. Maybe.

If you liked the African plots of the first two novels you probably will find the Morocco settings not up to the East Africa settings. No elephants, no lions, no savannah. Lots of sand, ruins and evil spirits. Which on its own is well done but compared to the other settings I found it lacking and more like pretty decorations in the novel instead of part of the soul of the book in the other two novels. 3 stars because it would be unfair to give less but it's very different from the first two ( )

This story takes place in 1920 in Africa. This is the 3rd book in this series. The heroine, Jade Del Cameron, has been an ambulance driver in France during World War I. Jade lives and works in Kenya. During this story she is in Tangiers meeting her mother. Her mother is kidnapped and things go on from there with a body in a tunnel. Jade has lots of adventures while looking for her mother. This series of books also contain a little history, adventure, travel and even a little romance. This is a wonderful series.

My first Jade del Cameron mystery, which seems a little like the Maisie Dobbs genre of mystery. It was enjoyable, a little mixing of mythology, mystery, murder and Morocco. Apparently this is the 3rd in the series, but I had no problem picking up recurring characters or back story.

Interestingly, I began this on my mother's birthday, and much of the story involves Jade's relationship with her mother, Inez (who gets kidnapped in the beginning of the book, and Jade goes off to find her. But then the plot thickens, and Jade also must find the stolen amulet of power for a Bedouin holy woman, but then there's drug runners, and an arch nemesis who appear...) Anyhow, my mom and I didn't have the rocky path that these two did, but I found it interesting to read of mothers and daughters on the day that would have been my mom's 88th birthday.

I didn't know that Mandarin Oranges were the same as Tangerines, though. ( )

** SPOILERS AHEAD**

I actually had to force myself to finish this one. I just can't figure out where this series went wrong. Maybe it's Jade's utter and complete perfection. It's not enough that she's a weapons master, linguistic sponge, war hero, uncommon beauty, and all-around badass. Turns out, she's also the descendant of an ancient Berber mystic/warrior queen? Riiiiight.

The straw that really crippled the camel, though, was Jade's miraculous powers of escape. Even though she's never actually tried her hand at lock picking, she still manages, within just a few moments, to pick the lock on her manacles using…. a chicken bone.

Oh, Believability, thou hast been stretched too thin.