Death On Tour
Janice Hamrick
Minotaur, Apr 26 2011, $24.99
ISBN: 9780312679460

The Austin, Texas Shore cousins (high school teacher Jocelyn and stylish Kyla), are best friends. They decide to tour Egypt together so they sign up with WorldPal Tours. However, in spite a terrific job by their guide Anni, the trip is not as much fun due to irritating fifty-something Millie Owens. When odious Millie falls to her death from the great pyramid of Khafre, the group is stunned and a bit remorseful as everyone wanted her to shut up, just not this way.

The Egyptian police find Millie was stabbed in her neck so obviously a murder occurred. Jocelyn comes across a journal the deceased kept that implies someone on the tour is dangerous, but who?. An unknown adversary attacks Jocelyn and a haranguing merchant is killed with the same M.O. as Millie. Jocelyn ponders who the killer is while assuming handsome hunk tourist Alan Stratton could not be the culprit as he is too good looking and interested in the cousins.

This is a wonderful on tour amateur sleuth. The entertaining story line captures the essence of being with a tour group as you don't select your companions or your schedule. Part of the fun is the generation gap as the younger Shore cousins especially Kyla are somewhat amusingly contemptuous of the boomers (you don't pick your travel mates on tour) in their group. Readers will enjoy this fine whodunit as Jocelyn wonders how an Austin schoolteacher on her once in a lifetime tour of the Pyramids has become a killer's target.

Harriet Klausner