Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Missing Scarab Review Tour

Blurb:

Barnabas Tew is a private detective struggling to make a go of it in Victorian London. Fearing that he is not as clever as he had hoped to be, he is riddled with anxiety and plagued by a lack of confidence brought on in no small part by his failure to prevent the untimely deaths of several of his clients. Matters only get worse when Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead, is referred to Barnabas by a former client (who perished in a terribly unfortunate incident which was almost certainly not Barnabas’ fault). Anubis sends for Barnabas (in a most uncivilized manner) and tells him that the scarab beetle in charge of rolling the sun across the sky every day has been kidnapped, and perhaps dismembered entirely. The land of the dead is in chaos, which will soon spill over into the land of the living if Barnabas (together with his trusty assistant, Wilfred) cannot set matters to right. Pulled from his safe and predictable (if unremarkable) life in Marylebone, Barnabas must match his wits against the capricious and dangerous Egyptian gods in order to unravel the mystery of the missing beetle and thereby save the world.

Excerpt:

“Perhaps there’s been a mistake,” he said. “Maybe I’m not really dead. Is there someone I could talk to? Someone who could straighten out this mess?”

“Sorry,” said Anti. “But this is how it is. You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t dead.”

“I just would have thought that dying would be, well, more noticeable,” said Barnabas sadly.

“So does everyone,” said Anti. “Almost no one really believes they are dead at first. And it must be especially hard for you, to have gone in such a, well, an unexpected way.”

My Review:
4.5 stars

Going into this story, I wasn't sure what to expect, especially given the colorful blurb and considering that I don't usually read historical books. However, I'm glad I read this mystery as it was a thrilling, entertaining read.

The mystery was suspenseful and intriguing, so much so that I couldn't put this book down. In addition to the mystery, there was much humor woven in, which made the story even more enjoyable. And on top of all that, I was surprised at the detail put into this story. I could definitely see the time and effort the author put into the historical details and in the mystery, which made the story great.

However, my favorite part of the story was the characters. They were all interesting, fleshed out characters with their own fun quirks. My favorite was Barnabas, as I couldn't help but love him and his quirks, even if he is a bit accident prone (or causing). In addition, the banter between Barnabas and Wilfred was amazing and hysterical, which just added to the characters

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

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Author Bio and Links:

Columbkill Noonan has an M.S. in Biology (she has, in turn, been a field biologist, an environmental compliance inspector, and a lecturer of Anatomy and Physiology).

When she's not teaching or writing, she can usually be found riding her rescue horse, Mittens, practicing yoga (on the ground, in an aerial silk, on a SUP board, and sometimes even on Mittens), or spending far too much time at the local organic, vegan market.

To keep up with Columbkill, visit her blog, find her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter.

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