This is a thoughtful, cute romance, where Bernice gets to hang out with an Edwardian archaeologist in the distant past, while meanwhile the People get up to no good. Not a lot happens, perhaps (seriously, how long does it take you to find people from the far future in ancient Mesopotamia?), but Orman's prose and interiority are such that you rarely notice, and when you do notice, you don't care. Bernice is at her best here, after a couple crummy outings, and John Lafayette is a good character too. The investigation of the People is great; my first real encounter with these guys.