Young journalist Charlie Doyle is fresh out of college when he answers an ad in the paper for a secretary-companion to Great War hero and dashing adventurer Edward, Lord Withycombe. Edward hires Charlie to write a biography, but soon the young man is embroiled in high jinks in the exotic surroundings of Egypt when Edward sets off for Egypt to find the missing archaeologist Sir Alexander Spencer.

Helping-and hindering-them is rival adventurer Lady Sarah, who's also Edward's ex-fiancée. From England to Paris to Cairo, Charlie is swept up and experiences things he never expected, from the formidable charms of Lady Sarah to the handsome Edward's amorous advances, from a seductive dancing-girl who's not what she seems to the long-dead Egyptian lovers Khnum-ho-tep and Ni-ankh-khnum, until he must face the most dangerous opponent of all-the Egyptian gods themselves. Can Charlie and Edward solve the mystery, save one another, and defeat the villainous Lady Sarah?

The Curse of the Pharaoh's Manicurist is a fast-paced, sexy story that's a rollicking good adventure and a ripping yarn! The historical facts are nicely layered into the story and I enjoyed the sense of time and place the authors created. The sense of exuberant fun carries throughout the book, gently poking fun at itself the way The Mummy movies did, and the overall result is like reading an H Rider Haggard pulp fiction novel. The characters are all larger than life and the whole thing is just pure frothy entertainment-I highly recommend it!

Reviewed by: Maija