Dime Store Reads: The Jackal’s Head

By Elizabeth Peters

Welcome to the second entry in my Dime Store Reads series. I picked up this book at a local Dollar General store for three dollars. In all honesty, the rack at this particular location was lacking. It was primarily romance novels and, to be quite honest, I wasn’t too sure if The Jackal’s Head was nothing more than a romance novel set in Egypt or more of a suspense/mystery novel. For my beloved readers, I took a chance on this one and the result was….just okay.

Thankfully the book was a legitimate suspense novel with just a little romance tossed in for good measure. The book was written by Elizabeth Peters (Barbara Mertz), a novelist who has written a number of popular book series and standalone novels and some nonfiction titles about ancient Egypt. It tells the story of Althea Tomlinson, the daughter of an archeologist who apparently killed himself, who returns to Egypt to uncover the truth about her father’s death and to expose the true villain that ruined her father’s career.

In the novel, Althea, called “Tommy” by friends, acquaintances, and a few enemies, receives a cryptic letter from Abdelal, her friend and her father’s colleague, that recommends she return to Egypt to meet with him. Not wanting to make herself known to others that might be in Luxor, she takes a job as a caregiver and assistant to a young lady, Dee Bloch, who is meeting her father, the very polite and very rich, Mr. Bloch.

Despite her attempt at going incognito, Tommy immediately runs into trouble with a man who used to be one of her father’s greatest allies, Dr. John McIntire, and his assistant, Mike Cassata. Tommy also discovers that Abdelal is dead and that his two sons, Hassan and Achmed, are the only connections left to him. She trusts Achmed, but not Hassan.

Soon enough, a scheme is uncovered that includes Nefertiti’s tomb, illegally trafficked Egyptian artifacts, and murder. Can Tommy clear her father’s name? Will she find Nefertiti’s tomb? Can she trust anyone? You’ll have to read The Jackal’s Head to find out!

This was the first book by Peters that I have read. It is also one of her earliest novels. The characters are rather interesting, especially Tommy. As I was reading the book, I envisioned her to look like Evie from the 1999 film The Mummy even though Peters’ physical description of the character is nothing like Evie. Tommy’s relationships with other characters in the book are somewhat confusing to say the least. She quickly forgives one character for almost killing her and falls in love with him. She is assaulted in her room by another character but lets his actions slide. A third character in the story also makes advances on her, advances that she welcomes, despite the fact that she never really trusts him. All three of those interactions are bizarre in my opinion. Other reviews state that these relationships are a product of the times in which the novel was written (late 1960’s), but I don’t buy into that theory. The relationships don’t work at all to me.

The character of John McIntire comes off as an uber male chauvinist that has a hint of Indiana Jones in him. I just cannot like the guy no matter what he does. In fact, he’s a jerk for almost the entire novel, save for a couple of moments.

The build up to the book’s climax was excessive and rather dull. We spend a number of pages alone with Tommy as she attempts to find her way out of a tomb. She outwits herself a number of times and allows the villain to outwit her as well. The eventual payoff is just….blah. I wanted more than the ending provided when all was said and done. I picked out the real villain(s) early on in this novel and the revelation of their true identities came as no surprise. Despite this, I do recommend The Jackal’s Head and I do plan on reading more of Peters’ works in the future. Apparently her writing gets a lot better in the 1970’s.

Should you read this book? Sure. It’s not as exciting as Raiders of the Lost Ark and Tommy is a terrible judge of character, but the story itself is pretty cool. It inspired me to look up Nefertiti and her husband, Akhenaton, and learn more about them. I was already somewhat familiar with Nefrtiti, but I never knew that her husband was such a rebel.

Thanks for checking out my post. I’ll be spinning the bargain rack again real soon!