Mayan Mendacity by L.J.M Owen

My Chronicle Book Box Review:

This is the second in the Dr. Elizabeth Pimms, inter millennial sleuth series and picks up shortly after the end of Olmec Obituary. This book probably would stand alone but I think it would be well worth reading the first in the series before this one. Elizabeth faces more emotional turmoil and personal mysteries in this book though she handles it all with increasing strength and maturity and ultimately works through to be in a more positive place in her life by the end.

She also finds herself in the thick of another ancient mystery through her volunteer archaeological work. The set of human remains she is asked to evaluate is much larger than that in the first volunteer project she undertook in book one with sixty-four skeletons, considerable further bones and other artefacts to assess this time and only one day a week to do it.

Princess Six Sky was Princess of Mutul in 675 AD and appears to be the key to understanding the remains Elizabeth is examining from Guatemala in the 21^st century. This seems to have been a rather gruesome and barbaric time in Mesoamerican history.

The interesting concept of the phrenic library was developed further in this book. Initially, it reminded me of Sherlock Holmes’ mind palace as portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in the BBC’s ‘Sherlock’ but Owen has taken it much further than that. The phrenic library became a tool for pattern connection and mystery solving though it did itself became more mysterious.

This was another intelligent and fascinating mystery and, as with Olmec Obituary, I enjoyed the dual aspect of the novel. As I had hoped the characters and Elizabeth’s relationships developed from the seeds sewn in the first book. I am looking forward to the next in the series and rather impatiently given the nature of the ending!

Hi, I'm Louise the founder of My Chronicle Book Box and I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog post.

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