Diadem of Death (Nefertari Hughes Myster... Nefertari “Terry” Hughes is looking forward to summer when school is out and she can spend more time with Zach before he goes off to college in the fall. But all of Terry and Zach’s plans are thrown out the window when her Dad announces that they have been invited by Prince Kamal (the real one) to come to Egypt to work on finding Cleopatra's tomb; the site where Terry’s mother was killed. Terry and Zach decide to end their relationship as he will be going to college in the fall; when her Dad tells her she has no choice but to go with him to Egypt.

Prince Kamal invites Terry’s best friend Maude and Fraser along on the trip as well. Terry and Maude are very excited to be going to Egypt or at least Maude is. Terry is sad to be leaving Zach behind not knowing if she will ever see him again.

Once they arrive in Egypt and make it to the site accidents start happening. Is someone trying to stop them from finding Cleopatra’s tomb? Will they go as far as committing murder? Terry, Maude and Fraser don’t know who to trust or where to turn so they rely only on themselves to find out who is sabotaging the site to keep them from finding Cleopatra’s tomb and steal the diadem.

Terry also finds a surprise waiting for her at the site one that she was not expecting her first boyfriend Awad is there and he would like to pick up from where they left off but Terry is not sure she is up for a relationship just yet as just broke up with Zach. She is kind of confused as she soon realizes she still has feelings for Awad too.

When I saw that Diadem of Death was up for review I knew I had to read it as I read the first book ASP of Ascension in the Nefertari Hughes Mystery and loved it tremendously. Diadem of Death is filled with lots of action right from the very beginning that will keep you hanging on for more and more and more. I would recommend both books in the Nefertari Hughes Mystery, Diadem of Death and ASP of Ascension to anyone who loves a good mystery.

Diadem of Death (Nefertari Hughes Myster... This is another Nefertari adventure which takes place in Egypt. In this second installment we meet some interesting new characters, with hidden agendas and will to do anything for what they want.
"Things are never what they seem."
When real Prince Kamal invites Terry and her friends to Egypt, they are all very excited. For Terry it will be a journey to her past and for her friends it will be a new and unique experience. But they never imagine how dangerous it will turn out to be. Once again Terry it at a place where she lost her mother, even though it is not easy but still she wants to complete her mother's work. Finding Cleopatra's final resting place will be the discover of the century. And once again it seems that she put her trust in the wrong people....
Terry is surrounded mysterious and deceitful people. She cannot know whom to trust, Fraser and Maude are the only ones she can trust completely. Although I missed Zach in this book but Awad is no less interesting, but is he trustworthy? Read to find out. ;)
This is just as amazing as book one was. I hope that there are more books in this series, I'd definitely love to see it continued.
P.S. I received a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley.

ASP of Ascension (Nefertari Hughes Myste... ASP Ascension is about a sixteen year old girl Terry Hughes. Her name is actually Nefertari but don’t tell anyone because Terry really hates being called by her real name. Poor Terry lost her mother about a year ago in an accident while they were looking for Cleopatra’s sarcophagus. Her mother spent her whole life nearly looking for Cleopatra’s sarcophagus and died for it. Terry loved her mother very much and misses her every single day. Terry’s mom and dad is archaeologist and so she grew up with the love of ancient Egypt. Terry knows more about ancient Egypt than anyone in her new school.

Terry doesn’t want to go to a brick and mortar school she wants to stay home and take online classes. But her dad insist that she go to school and be with other kids her own age and he knows she just needs to be with people more than ever right now especially since the anniversary of her mother’s death is so close. Terry tries her best to stay invisible at school but it is impossible when you are the daughter of a famous archaeologist who is in town working at the museum setting everything up for an unveiling of Cleopatra’s sarcophagus. But Terry does meet a very good person a girl Maude who becomes her best friend. She also has the opportunity of meeting and being partners with the school jock Zach. But alias he has a girlfriend the mean girl of the school Allison.

Allison is very popular and has her groupies who follow her around all day and help her to beat up other girls in the bathroom which is very old school as they say. If it has been done before then you can bet your bottom dollar Allison has done it too when it comes to her bathroom secessions or even out of the bathroom as well. Allison is one girl you want to try and avoid at all cost.

When Terry’s dad ends up in a coma one night while working late at the museum; Terry is the only one who can save him. A woman her dad works with tells Terry that her dad is in a coma because of the curse of Cleopatra and Terry is the only one who can break it. Terry must solve a fifty year old case of Cleopatra’s missing ASP. If she finds the ASP then she can break the curse and her dad will be ok. Can she find the missing ASP before time runs out? Will she lose her dad only a year after losing her mother? Will her and her new friends save her father?

When I first signed up to do this tour I didn’t think I wanted to read ASP Ascension. Well it was more like I didn’t have time but you know it is quite amazing how you can find the time when you really want to read something. After checking the book out further by reading the preview on Goodreads I was like I got to read this book. So I set out to find that little bit of extra time. How you say? Well by reading the books on my tbr list at the time faster. And how did I do that? By putting more time in to my reading but I actually think I just got lucky and had some really good books that read faster than some. You know what I mean?

I am really glad that I check ASP Ascension out further before throwing it to the side. I plan on do this a lot more in the future. Thanks Goodreads for having a preview of the book and thanks to the author B.R. Myers and YA Bound Book Tours for giving me this opportunity to read ASP Ascension and I can’t wait to read more of Nefertari Hughes Mystery’s in the future.

I highly recommend ASP Ascension to anyone who loves a good mystery and have a love for ancient Egypt. Or maybe just Cleopatra and Mark Anthony.

I want to say right from the start that this book is the BEST book that I have read to date (August 3, 2009). I don’t know what was wrong with me, but for some reason I didn’t want to get started with this one. I put it off for three days after finishing Eve for some unknown reason but as soon as I started reading it, I was like “What was wrong with you!”

The Heretic Queen sort of picks up where her previous book Nefertiti leaves off. Nefertari is a princess in the royal court of Seti I. Her mother was Queen Mutnudjamet, the sister of Queen Nefertiti. Nefertari is the only remaining link to this family. With these family connections, Nefertari is constantly harassed by her school mates and others about being from the Heretic family. Her two closest friends, the only ones who really don’t consider her the Heretic, are Asha and Ramesses. Ramesses is the son of Seti I and he is declared co-reagent of Egypt along with his father. Along with his title, Ramesses must select a wife; a role that Nefertari would love to fill. Except there are some major roadblocks in the way…politics, greed, pride.

This story never felt like it was dragging. The sentences never felt clumsy, out of place, or just used as filler. Every sentence was important and helped move the story along in major ways. Moran is well versed in her Egyptian vocabulary and ways of living during the 19th dynasty. Her writing really makes you feel like you are right there or watching a movie play out right in front of you. About halfway through the book I realized that this book would only get through a fraction of the life/story of Nefertari. I was slightly depressed knowing this because this is a great love story for the ages; one that has stood the test of time. When it ended I wanted to read more, more, more! This has quickly moved its way to the top of my favorite book list.

I cannot wait to read Moran’s third book, Cleopatra’s Daughter. I have thoroughly enjoyed her first two.

Michelle Moran also has written two other books with an Egyptian slant to them: Nefertiti and Cleopatra's Daughter.

 

You can visit Michelle's website for additional information about the book. If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

 

     

 

This review is of a book from my personal collection and is based solely on my reading pleasure.  Review originally posted at The Maiden's Court on August 3, 2009.

PDF Cover/title page:Detail a/QueenNefertari 0/'1 the northwall of Chamber G.Opening: Tunneled into the northernslope of the necropolis, Nefertari's"house of eternity" is one of the finesttombs ever created by ancient Egypt'smaster craftsmen.Emblazoned on its walls and corridors,some 520 square meters of exquisitewall paintings reveal a ritual process andillustrate Nefertari's journey of transformationinto a blessed soul in the hereafter.It would prove a long and perilous passage;but she could rely on these hieroglyphictexts and illustrations to be her beacons tothe beyond. Page 16: The text on the temple facade issimilarly remarkable, for it declares:"Rameses II has made a temple, excavatedin the mountain of eternal workmanship inNubia ... for the king's great wife Nefertari,beloved of Mut, forever and ever, ...Nefertari ... for whom the sun does shine."Perfect photography of the resoration of this tomb, which was opened to the public in 1995. The text was generic, geared to visitors, and adequate enough to direct the inquisitive to further investigation.Summer 2013 Egyptian Encounters:Cleopatra (1963) Film Only3* The Mummy Curse2* Alexandria: The Last Nights of Cleopatra4* The Complete Valley of the Kings1* Ancient Egypt by George Rawlinson4* Tutankhamen: Life and death of a Pharoah2* The Luxor Museum3* Tutankhamen's TreasureCR The Black Pharaoh3* Nubian Twilight.../ complimentary reading!CR River God4* House of Eternity