I was home sick from work and this was the closest book. It wasn't a bad mystery and the characters were decent. The discussion of Egypt was really enjoyable, especially since I like to read Elizabeth Peters' Peabody series. It was obvious to me who the responsible party was and I had a hard time understanding why Jocelyn didn't catch on sooner. But then, I didn't have to deal with all of those people either (too bad nobody did Jerry in). My friends have traveled on tours in Europe but I haven't. I might consider one for a place like Egypt, but I think it would get on my nerves, even if there weren't any murders. I did get a chuckle out of the references to sisters from Utah, especially since I finished reading it on my flight to Utah (where I will be seeing my sisters). Since the series focuses on Jocelyn and her cousin Kyla and their relationship drove me nuts, I probably won't go out of my way to hunt down any more, but if one came my way I would read it.

Jocelyn has always wanted to go to Egypt (something I can completely relate to). Now that she is divorced she and her cousin, Kyla, are doing just that. Having been to Egypt myself I found the descriptions absolutely perfect. I remember not being able to bring my camera into the Cairo Museum and how I was absolutely awestruck at my first glimpse of Abu Simbel. Sure, the romance was predictable but so what? You know that this is what you are going to get with a cozy. Sure I had the mystery figured out pretty quickly but for me that's not unusual for me. Overall, this is one of the best books I've read in a while and it made me nostalgic want to sit in a little alleyway sip some strong coffee and smoke a hookah.

I am pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this book. It was-dare I say it-"cozy". Pheeeew, I've never used that word before. And yet it fits. This was without a doubt, so clean it squeaked of normalcy. No paranormal what so ever and I still liked it! My only complaint is I suspected the true villains at least one chapter before Jocelyn.

Really loved the theme - all the Egypt references and descriptions of the tours. The mystery was ok. I figured both parts before the ending. The protagonist and her sidekick Kyla were ok but I really thought some of their actions were a little off. The romantic story ending felt weak to me. Overall, I gave it three stars and I might read another in the series to see how the characters develop.

Texas high school teacher Jocelyn and her cousin Kyla have always been interested in Ancient Egypt, so when presented the opportunity to spend her spring break touring the Great Pyramids, Jocelyn isn't about to say no. She's not even going to let the death of one of her more annoying companions ruin her trip. But, when strange things keep happening to their group, Jocelyn begins to wonder if the trip was really worth it.

Unlike most cozy mysteries, this book begins with the murder on page one. For me, this was a definite turn-off. When reading mysteries, I like to have a chance to know my characters before someone dies.

I believe it was also possible that I knew the name of the victim before the name of the main character (although I have already returned the book to the library, so I cannot be certain). With such a large cast, I had a very difficult time remembering who was who and sometimes felt I knew everyone else's name better than the main character. While I understand that there were many people in the tour group, and it wouldn't feel realistic to have a small group, I think introducing them all in the first chapter was a little overwhelming. I would have liked to have only a few introduced at a time, and maybe referring to them by more than just their name at times would have probably helped.

As a result of the large, confusing cast, I had a very difficult time getting into the book. The first chapter was twenty-nine pages long (while other chapters were less than ten) and was not very engaging. However, I pushed myself to read through it and eventually found myself more engaged in the story. I managed to figure out the whodunit long before the main character although, as I said before, it was difficult to keep everyone straight. I did have a few characters that I didn't suspect but I couldn't figure out why they were acting strange. Everything was explained nicely at the end, perhaps a little too conveniently, although with this specific situation, I'm not exactly sure if there was another way to explain everything without create plot holes.

Overall, I liked the premise of the book, but thought it fell short a little on the execution.

Fun cozy (but not too twee) mystery with a lot of cool Egyptian travelogue.

I liked this book, it is a cozy, but isn't too frivolous or superficial. The main character goes on a tour of Egypt and one of the tour members gets killed the second day in. Of course, all her fellow tour members are acting strangely, creating a perfect gaggle of suspects. The culprits were apparent to me before chapter 5, but I enjoyed the read immensely in spite of this. The backdrop of Egypt is always interesting and Ms. Hamrick does a beautiful job with her descriptions. Most of the characters are cleverly drawn and unique. My biggest complaint is Jocelyn's travelling companion, cousin and best friend comes across as shallow, narcissistic and unlikeable, although she does pull her head out towards the end.

I'm not sure if I'll read the next book in the series or not, but I'd recommend it to anyone liking cozies and travel.

This was fun and light, just how I like my mysteries. I was pretty sure I knew who the villain(s??) was at the beginning of the book, and halfway through I was sure of it, but again, I had no illusions that this was going to be an edge of your seat thriller. Which it wasn't. But it was nice and funny and there was no one who was unreasonably crazy, which I hate. I can't wait to read the next book, Death Makes the Cut.