Stephen Bowkett

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2638498.html

Next in the series of Bernice Summerfield Novels, and one that I'm afraid left me rather cold; the girl of the title is another archaeologist, caught up in espionage and ancient history, but it just wasn't terribly interesting apart from Benny herself, who is always fun. Even there, I was annoyed by the use of her diary entries purely to shift from tight-third to first-person narrative rather gratuitously, without really adding much to the plot or our understanding of the characters' perceptions of it.… (mere)

In terms of emotional complexity, this is one of the best Bernice Summerfield New Adventures-- on the scale of insight into adult, human emotions, this is like the excellent Professor Bernice Summerfield anthologies (such as A Life of Surprises and rel="nofollow" target="_top">A Life Worth Living) later published by Big Finish. The relationship between Bernice and her new "old" friend, and between that friend and her ex, feel startlingly real. Unfortunately, in terms of plot, it's a bit of a non-starter-- another dig with a mysterious backer goes awry, blah blah blah, someone's a traitor, blah blah blah...… (mere)