Lyn HamiltonRezensionen

This was way too slow, and the way it was weekend was strange. As if it were a directed text, like a testimony, which is what I fully expected it to resolve as. It didn't, so that just made the whole vibe weirder. Why was it written that way? It felt awkward.

The writing is very procedural, in a kind of bland "this happened, then this happened, then this happened" way. I never felt invested in the characters or story. Though it was essentially a murder mystery, I didn't care and ultimately was not very surprised by the ending. I absolutely would not have finished this if it weren't the last book needed for a lengthy yearlong reading challenge. 

This was a great read and Hamilton did amazing work in integrating the archeological/Mayan aspects. I learned a lot, but without the sometimes agonizing attempts to educate the reader through pages of explanatory dialogue that plagues historical fiction. Lara McClintoch is a great character--both relatable in her life challenges (divorce, losing her business, etc) but also a bit of an armchair superhero sleuth, who isn't afraid to put her neck on the line in search of writing rabbits (read the book and that makes sense). Most of the story takes place in Mérida, Mexico, and Hamilton really makes the city come alive. Each chapter is named for a day of the Mayan calendar, but it isn't frivolous--McClintoch knows her stuff (and so does Hamilton). Portents and symbology abound, as do some good old-fashioned murders. While I am no expert in Mayan culture, I did fact check some of what Hamilton offered and it seems legit.
The author died of cancer in 2009, but she managed 11 in the series, and I can't wait to read them.

An enjoyable murder mystery set in the 1990s amidst an archaeological site in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. I found the information about the Mayan culture interesting & not too overdone. There was a bit too much "If I had known what was to happen" in the early parts of the book, but other than that I liked the first person narrative. I did guess one of the guilty parties, partially from clues and partially based on personality...

I would give the book 2½ stars partly because this Kindle edition has a few editing errors that were annoying. However, my biggest complaint was the unnecessary 'talk' of the Goddess at the beginning of each chapter -- I liked it at first but it didn't really have anything to do with the story so I lost interest. Much of the history of Malta contained in those section was also presented in the main story line as well so it didn't even have that purpose.

I also found it extremely distracting in the climax of the mystery for the author to suddenly switch from writing in the past tense to present tense (just for that one chapter).

I enjoyed the setting and the 'riddle' but felt that Lara should have figured out who the murderer was quite a bit earlier. Still, a fun read and I will most likely read more books from the series.

This book was little more then OK, I didn't care to much for any of the characters, because we hardly got to know any of them and the heroine made way too many bad personal decisions
She blames her ex for her trip to Mexico, and we see by the end of the novel that he is not a sterling character, but she married him and stayed married too long by her own admission. The next guy she gets involved with, I had long pegged as the villain of the book, he tries to kill her, she's saved by this mysterious character Lucas who she now starts a relationship with.

whether it is possible to have a truly trusting and intimate relationship with someone who keeps something very important from you.

So she knows little to nothing about this guy.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me a possible 3 times? The reader becomes the fool.


That plus the mystery was far to easy to solve made for a rather poor reading experience. The background info was interesting and truly that and the setting are the only reasons I finished the book.

I was definitely interested in an archeological mystery so I picked up The Xibalba Murders. Unfortunately, it wasn't exciting or engrossing. Perhaps the series gets better.

Lara, the archaeologist, takes it upon herself to investigate her friend's death in Mexico, apparently over a precious Maya artifact.

I can appreciate the names of the chapters being the names of the days in Mayan and there being a bit of a mystical twist with her dreams of the Lords of Xibalba, but it wasn't enough to make this a really good, interesting story. Perhaps if it had been longer, allowing for more depth of character and plot development, I wouldn't have cringed every time she snuck out of the hotel or broke into the museum like a little kid.

I may or may not read another in this series.

Looking for an X book in one of my ongoing challenges, I recently picked up The Xibalba Murders. It's the first book in a series featuring Lara McClintoch, Toronto-based antiquities dealer. She has been contacted by her former mentor, Dr. Hernan Castillo, who begs her to come down and help him with a mysterious project. He disappears, but leaves behind a cryptic message “we seek what the rabbit writes”.

Lara begins an investigation but seems to be unaware of what a dangerous position she is putting herself in. There is a resurgence of guerrilla warfare in the city, which is being led by a modern group who wants to return to the days of the Mayans. She then travels into the jungle where she enters the underground ruins in search of the treasure that Dr. Castillo was looking for.

One of the most fascinating things about this book was that each chapter is named after a Mayan day. The name is explained and fascinating facts are given to explain it's meaning. What I didn't realize at first is that the author then relates each chapter to the title's meaning. She also writes many remarkable facts about the Maya culture and their detailed history, which I found quite fascinating.

The plot was mildly interesting with some unexpected twists but I felt my mind drifting off in several places and had to go back and reread a section. I didn't love the heroine and felt she was naive a lot of the time. Since this is the first book of a series that now has eleven other books, I would definitely give it another try. I learned so much about the Mayan culture, it was worth reading, in my opinion.

I enjoyed the setting and the 'riddle' but felt that Lara should have figured out who the murderer was quite a bit earlier. Still, a fun read and I will most likely read more books from the series.

This would be the sixth Lara McClintoch book, and I would go as far as to say possibly the best in the series so far, it has just the right mix of all the required elements in a good mystery novel.

It takes us initially into the orbit of a reclusive billionaire who hires Lara to track down a rare bronze statue, however upon following up the leads Lara finds the statue is a fake and it's here where things begin to get messy and the eccentric owner of said statue turns up dead.

Worth having a look at if you were interested in the earlier novels but turned off by the pace or structure of them as both are vastly improved here.

A murder mystery set in Tunisia amidst at guided tour and also the search for an ancient shipwreck.

Whilst the narrative seemed to get a little bogged down at times, largely it was much better than the earliest two books in the series. The blurb at the beginning of each chapter containing the narrative from the past was vastly better integrated into the story in this book than earlier ones.

Overall, it initially was feeling like a narrated game of Cluedo however as the plot expanded out from the hotel itself the feel of the story improved I felt. Once again the culprit is concealed well throughout the story with hints here and there but no directly identifiable perpetrator until they are revealed in the unfolding story and when done so it is not out of left field but rather the pieces simply fall into place.½

The Celtic Riddle is the 4th book in the Lara McClintoch series, whilst the first two books weren't that great the third book, The Moche Warrior was a substantial improvement and I was pleased to find that this continued on that trend. It was also vastly better than the first two books even if the whole idea of a treasure hunt in a will was a bit trite.

The mystery aspect nonetheless is well done dropping ample clues along the way to the reader that lead down various paths but ultimately do not ever reveal the culprit until the end when they are unmasked.

Overall, it's a fair mystery novel, not exceptional but not terrible either. I did prefer the prior book over this book due to the factual history it contained which was interesting that this one lacked, but purely story wise they are about equal.½

This was a substantially better novel than the Maltese Goddess that came before it in the Lara McClintoch series. I might even go as far as to say it was a vast improvement, to the extent that whilst I was going to give up on the series I shall continue to see if this level of quality is maintained.

This book had a much better beginning, the pace of the story was much better, it contained actual archeology unlike the prior book and there was some actual mystery there too. All the elements one requires for a book series that bills itself as "an archeological mystery" were present.

Overall, it was quite enjoyable and even contains some educational material about Peruvian pre-Columbian history which was interesting.½

I previously read the book prior to this, The Xibalba Murders, and was so taken with it that its been a 7 year gap until I picked up this, the next in the series.

Once again, I can't say I'm blown away with character depth, plot development, adventure or the archeological mystery, of which there is very little.

Each chapter starts off with a bit of a blurb from the 'Maltese Goddess' which is rather pointless and has not much to do with anything in the story, and the story itself isn't particularly engaging either.

I would classify this as airport fiction, it will help you pass time if you're trapped with no other options but to stare out a window, but where other options exist you'll be wanting to take them. This simply isn't that great and I certainly wouldn't call it an archeological mystery as it's more of a murder mystery or furniture mystery if anything at all.½

A fair mystery, but not up to the previous 3. I found the Irish myth storytelling to be rather boring. The whole story revolves around the ancient myths of the founding of Ireland. There was not enough of the archeology, as per previous novels, to keep my attention. I could only read this in small spurts, as the Irish legends were not of interest to me. Be that as it may, I did finish the book. Lara McClintoch went to Ireland with her elderly friend Ales and her Canadian Mounted Policeman’s friend Rob and his daughter. Alex was there to hear the reading of a will written by a man Alex knew decades ago in his Merchant Marine Days. Alex inherits a cottage. However all those in the will receive clues to an ancient Celtic treasure. The treasure could be found if all work together. So, Lara and company decide to stay a bit longer. It is a story of treasure, murder, family funding and revenge.½

This is the second volume of the Archaeolgical Mystery series by Lyn Hamilton. Lara McClintoch, co-owner of a Toronto Antique shop is hired by a famous Maltese architect to furnish his new home in Malta. JHe is in a rush as he will be holding an important business party in less than a week. Shipping items from Canada too Malta has become a problem: French transportation strikes and a blizzard threaten. The architect's wife won't be attending the party, so Lara has to go to Malta to prepare the house and organize the furnishings. Upon arrival Lara stays in the nearly empty home. The housekeeper, husband and son help Lara in the preparations. However, despite the beautiful surroundings Lara is feeling very uneasy. Something is seriously wrong. A school Goddess play, Murders, a Canadian Mountie, and political intrigue make Lara's stay anything but relaxing. I enjoyed the beautiful description of Malta and the Goddess temples, the oldest Neolithic temples on earth. Matter of fact, I had to research a bit about these temples. Absolutely amazing I must add. Lots of history and background are woven into this tightly written mystery. It gets a bit too wordy at the end, as the author tries to tie up loose ends. All in all a good read.½

I'm almost embarrassed to log this in my reading challenge for the year but I was ill over the last few days and the only thing my brain wanted was a light mystery. I was hoping for something like Elizabeth Peters but I have to say this was quite boring; the only thing I enjoyed were the bits of history relating to Mayan belief and culture. I could have done without the liberalisms regarding the political situation of indigenous struggles but it's only to be expected in a book like this. In theory I love a good archaeological mystery but this was not a good mystery and the main character is hare-brained and humourless, so I probably would not recommend this to anyone except people who are killing time or convalescing and would prefer not to think at all over the few hours required to read this book.

Number one in the Lara McClintoch Archeological Mystery series, takes our heroine from her home in Toronto to the Yucatan peninsula. Lara’s marriage has ended and she’s lost her business, so when a former teacher and mentor calls and asks her to come to Merida, Mexico to help him with an important new discovery, she jumps at the chance. But Dr Hernan Castillo is killed before she can meet with him and now she’s a suspect in his murder. She doesn’t know whom to trust, but is certain if she can find out what Castillo had discovered she’ll solve the murder.

Every chapter began with some explanation of the relevance of the day to the Mayan calendar and Maya gods. Lara dreamed about Mayan deities and used those dreams to guide her actions. I am a fan of magical realism, but Hamilton’s efforts seemed heavy-handed. I also thought Lara behaved in a reckless manner on more than one occasion. I identified the culprit long before she did, but then the book would have been very short if she’d caught on when I did!

All in all, it was a somewhat entertaining mystery … a bit more hard-hitting than most cozies, though Lara IS an amateur sleuth. I did enjoy learning a bit more about Mayan lore.

Lara is an antiquities dealer in Toronto. Things aren't going well, as a street person is scaring off her customers, and her ex-husband just opened a shop across the street and is stealing her customers. Lara went to an auction and bought a box of miscellaneous items, which her ex really wanted. However, Lara found what appeared to be ancient and illegal Moche artifacts from Peru. Her shop gets vandalized and set on fire. Running for her life Lara ends up on an archeolical dig in Peru, trying to figure out what what going on. The plot got pretty thin at the end of the story. However, I always enjoy the historical info which the author fills the books.

Very detailed explanations of the Mayan culture, textbook at times great for the armchair traveler.

Lara who is the narrator of his story has come to Merita at the request of Don Hernan Castillo Rivas to solve a mystery relating to the ancient Mayans. He is following some archeological trail and wants to keep it secret.

Lara is not long on discretion and appearances turn her head, she is frequently TSTL or maybe just stupidly naïve. She knows nothing of the two archeologists she meets, Jonathan and Lucas, and she doesn’t seem to remember Don Hernan’s desire for secrecy.

When Don Hernan’s body is found and Lara decides she must investigate to find the killer.

This is the first book in a series of 11 archeological mysteries that Lyn Hamilton wrote before her death in 2009. There is tons of information about the Mayas included in the story and I found myself doing many computer searches to find even more info.

I am planning to read more of the series to see how the character of Lara evolves. And, to visit other archeological sites.

Looking for an X book in one of my ongoing challenges, I recently picked up The Xibalba Murders. It's the first book in a series featuring Lara McClintoch, Toronto-based antiquities dealer. She has been contacted by her former mentor, Dr. Hernan Castillo, who begs her to come down and help him with a mysterious project. He disappears, but leaves behind a cryptic message “we seek what the rabbit writes”.

Lara begins an investigation but seems to be unaware of what a dangerous position she is putting herself in. There is a resurgence of guerrilla warfare in the city, which is being led by a modern group who wants to return to the days of the Mayans. She then travels into the jungle where she enters the underground ruins in search of the treasure that Dr. Castillo was looking for.

One of the most fascinating things about this book was that each chapter is named after a Mayan day. The name is explained and fascinating facts are given to explain it's meaning. What I didn't realize at first is that the author then relates each chapter to the title's meaning. She also writes many remarkable facts about the Maya culture and their detailed history, which I found quite fascinating.

The plot was mildly interesting with some unexpected twists but I felt my mind drifting off in several places and had to go back and reread a section. I didn't love the heroine and felt she was naive a lot of the time. Since this is the first book of a series that now has eleven other books, I would definitely give it another try. I learned so much about the Mayan culture, it was worth reading, in my opinion.

What a nice start to a series. I enjoy anything archeological and mysteries, so this was an interesting read. The main character, Lara McClintoch, is a recently divorced and former owner of an Antique Store in Toronto, Canada. Amidst her new university studies, she receives a call from her old friend and former antiquities buyer, Dr. Castillo in Mexico. He wants her to help him hunt for an possible Mayan artifact, which survived burning by the Franciscans back in the 17th century. Dropping her studies Lara heads to Mexico and stays with family friends who own a small hotel. Before getting to speak with Dr. Castillo, he is found dead. Lara is determined to figure out what it was that might have gotten her friend killed. The story weaves in Mayan history, especially that of Xibalba, the Mayan land of the dead. She visits museums, small towns, and archeological digs in her search. A very interesting fast moving story. I can hardly wait to read the next in this series. However, I wish it were in hardcover, as I'm not a fan of paperbacks.

Good start to a series as Lara follows the path of a lost Codex. Excellent in sights to the mMayan culture and its artifacts. Kind of a "perils of Pauline" ending but she does survive.½

Another Lara McClintoch mystery. She stumbles into something by buying what she considers to be mostly junk at an auction. Her store is broken into and set on fire and a good friend is hit on the head and injured. Someone else is found dead in the fire and her friend is suspected. Lara ends up tracking down clues in Peru. This involves the Moche people who pre-dated the Inca. She joins an archaeological dig trying to find out who is behind smuggling. She has figured out that someone is passing valuable finds as cheap copies and smuggling them to the U.S. I really like this series.

I like this series. The main character Lara McClintoch is invited to go to Malta to set up a house for a wealthy client who purchased a lot of valuable home furnishings. He is a handsome charming man who made his own fortune in architecture. He is found dead inside a piece of furniture shipped from her store. There is an odd man who arrived on the same plane as Lara and she keeps running into him. She calls him the great white hunter or gwh because of how he dresses. She then finds him dead. This turns out to be a plot by a politician who wants to arrange his superior to die.