Mark of the Lion (Jade del Cameron Series #1) by Suzanne Arruda

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
Equal parts Isak Dinesen's classic memoir Out of Africa and Alexander McCall Smith's Precious Ramotswe saga (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Tears of the Giraffe, et al.), Suzanne Arruda's debut novel is a historical whodunit set predominantly in post-WWI British East Africa that features Jade del Cameron, a tough and adventurous young woman on a dangerous quest to fulfill a dead man's last wish.

As an American student in England who drove an ambulance for the French Army during WWI, del Cameron witnessed innumerable horrors during the conflict -- none more gruesome than watching her lover (an English fighter pilot named David Worthy) get shot out of the skies and then holding him in her arms as he died. Jade vows to accomplish David's last request -- to somehow find his unknown brother -- but she soon realizes that the task won't be as easy as it initially seemed. Her search leads her to Nairobi, where David's father died years earlier in a bizarre animal attack. But as Jade slowly closes in on David's mysterious brother -- and his father's killer -- she also puts herself in harm's way by becoming embroiled in a treacherous plot that includes a malevolent witch, a heroin-smuggling operation, hidden treasure, and cold-blooded murder.

Mark of the Lion is noteworthy in large part because of its cross-genre appeal. The blend of mystery, historical fiction, African travelogue, and unlikely romance make Arruda's debut offering a compelling and striking read. (Safari hat and elephant gun not included!) Paul Goat Allen

From the Publisher

In 1919, when most women only dream of adventure, Jade del Cameron lives it. After driving an ambulance along the front lines of World War I, she can fire a rifle with deadly precision. Still suffering trauma from the Great War, she sets off for Africa determined to fulfill a man's dying wish...never expecting to become involved in murder.

Rich with romance, mystery, and adventure, Mark of the Lion introduces a fascinating new heroine and explores the elusive heart of a compelling and exotic world.

Publishers Weekly

Set in 1919, Arruda's promising debut introduces a heroine who's no ordinary Gibson girl. An ambulance driver during WWI, Jade del Cameron promises a dying soldier that she'll track down his brother. The only problem is that the soldier's mother, whom Jade goes to visit in London, insists that she had only one son. Jade reasons that the missing brother must have been born to another woman, conceived when the now deceased family patriarch was exploring East Africa. So off she goes to Nairobi, where she mingles with the colonial elite, kills a hyena, learns Swahili, fingers a drug smuggler, romances a man twice her age, uncovers a murder and attracts the attentions of a local witch. The novel's conclusion is a tad predictable, and Arruda's Africa is not quite as captivating as Alexander McCall Smith's (an inevitable comparison). Still, most readers will close this charming book eagerly anticipating the next installment of Jade's adventures. (Jan.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A driver who developed a taste for adventure while behind the wheel of a Model T ambulance in WWI travels after the war to Africa to fulfill the dying request of her almost-fiance. David Worthy died in Jade del Cameron's arms when his Sopwith Camel crashed during combat with a German Fokker. She's eager to honor his last words: "Find my brother." The only problem is that he doesn't seem to have a brother. Impetuous and courageous, Jade heads off to East Africa, where David's father was improbably killed when a hyena attacked him in his posh hotel room. Once she's in Nairobi, her striking beauty, boldness and sponsorship by an English peer who's the husband of her best friend ingratiate her with the Anglo-Saxon elite, a jungle within the jungle, a mix of enterprising and decadent colonials. Her skills with both rifle (she grew up on a ranch in New Mexico) and automobile, on the other hand, keep her alive in the natural jungle on a hunt for a witch's hyena preying on a small native village. And they stand her in good stead on a safari when lions hunt her and she discovers David's brother and David's father's killer. Arruda's debut is an enjoyable romp through a colorful place and period in which the heroine has a Douglas-Fairbanks-in-a-split-skirt-charm and the mystery serves mostly as an excuse for an early 20th-century Nairobi safari.

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