A gentle paw pats my cheek. Pulled from the imaginary surrounds of my mind’s information management system–my phrenic library–I drift into wakefulness and force one eye open. It’s Thoth, my lovely tabby girl, requesting her morning cuddle.

Curling the largest of our household cats against me, I try to remember what day is it. . . Saturday. Yes! I live for the weekend.

Monday to Friday might be dedicated to working at the Mahony Griffin Library and helping to support my family, but that’s not the job I trained for. I grew up aching to be an archaeologist, spent years preparing for a career in the field, only to be forced by my father’s death to abandon my very first dig in Egypt.

Let’s see, what time is it?

I peer blurrily at the bedside alarm clock. No good. I fumble for my weekend glasses. . .ah. 5 am. Excellent.

It may be a dark, frosty Canberra winter outside, but nothing’s going to stop me from getting to the skeletal analysis lab before sunrise. I wash and dress in record time, grab my Rosetta stone satchel crammed with laptop and notebooks, and tip toe downstairs to avoid waking my morning-averse siblings.

A shaft of light peaking from the kitchen tells me I’m not the first one up today. My grandfather, Taid, and his wife Grandmere Maddie are divvying up their morning vitamins as my other grandmother, Nàinài, presses a cup of coffee into my hands. It’s a rich vanilla-laced blend. Heaven.

Wishing them all a good day, I load up with my satchel, a thermos of tea, a pail of sandwiches and my keys and head to the car. Zipping through the city toward the university, I can’t wait to open the next box of ancient bones in my current investigation–to turn them in my hands and decipher minute clues as to whom they once belonged.

Closing the door of the lab behind me, I high-five Fred–the university’s ex-Scandinavian teaching skeleton–plop my belongings onto the bench, wrap my jacket and scarf as tightly around me as I can, then open all the windows to clear the room’s lingering formaldehyde fug.

With a deep sigh of satisfaction, I move the next box on my to-do list from a nearby shelf to the bench. I snap on latex gloves, roll out a blue felt mat to accommodate the next skull, and lift the lid.

Time to immerse myself in the remains of those long passed, to divine the details of their lives and deaths from traces on their bones. . .

Ancient murder, family secrets and forgotten women’s history.
The Dr Pimms, Intermillennial Sleuth series.
Really cold cases.

You can read more about Elizabeth in Egyptian Enigma, the third book in the “Dr Pimms, Intermillennial Sleuth” archaeological historical mystery series. The first book in the series is Olmec Obituary and the second, Mayan Mendacity.

Dr Elizabeth Pimms, enthusiastic archaeologist and reluctant librarian, has returned to Egypt.

Among the treasures of the Cairo museum she spies cryptic symbols in the corner of an ancient papyrus. Curiosity leads Elizabeth and her gang of sleuths to investigate a cache of mummies hidden in the Golden Tomb.

What is the connection between the Tomb and Tausret, female Pharaoh and last ruler of Egypt’s Nineteenth Dynasty? How did the mummies end up scattered across the globe? And is Elizabeth’s investigation related to attacks on her family and friends?

Between grave robbers, modern cannibals, misinformed historians and jealous Pharaohs, can Dr Pimms solve her new archaeological mystery?

Filled with ancient murder, family secrets and really good food, Egyptian Enigma is the third adventure in the charming crime series: Dr Pimms, Intermillennial Sleuth. Really cold cases.

‘LJM Owen’s latest book Egyptian Enigma has a splendid fusion of ancient and modern narratives. Her Ancient Egypt is scholarly, well-chosen and intricate. And there are recipes. What else could a reader possibly ask for?’ —Kerry Greenwood

Purchase Link
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Meet the author
Dr L.J.M. Owen is an author, librarian and archaeologist. She creates the world of Dr Pimms, Intermillennial Sleuth from her cat-filled home in Australia. Presented as traditional crime novels, L.J. crafts the series by transforming science and history into accessible fiction with a broad appeal.

When not writing L.J. experiments with ancient recipes under strict feline supervision, of course.

Connect with L.J. online at ljmowen.com.

All comments are welcomed.