Nancy Drew + Indiana Jones = Theodosia Throckmorton

In the wake of the Twilight craze, we've all seen far too many vampire and werewolf stories flooding the market. Not that I have anything against Dracula or the Wolf Man, but I always had a soft spot for the Mummy. Maybe there's not enough room for edgy romantic triangles in archaeology and Egyptology but it seems to me to offer plenty of fertile ground for fun stories. That's where Theodosia Throckmorton is a bit of fresh air - even if it does come from long buried crypts and the basements of British museums!

Theodosia (Theo) is not your average eleven year-old girl. Her parents are prominent archaeologists at the Museum of Legends and Antiquities in Edwardian London, and she spends most of her time helping on expeditions and working in the museum. Grandmother Throckmorton disapproves of this upbringing and is determined to find a suitable governess. Oh, did I mention that Theo is constantly having to protect those around her from ancient Egyptian curses as well as preserving England and the rest of the world from the Serpents of Chaos, a shadowy group intent upon... well, chaos?

I received books 2 and 3 in this series from Amazon Vine, so I haven't read the first, Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos. In Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris, Theo is assigned to catalog the museum's collection in the basement when she stumbles upon an ancient staff and a golden orb which fits nicely at the top. But the next morning all of London's mummies are found in the lobby of their museum, and after a few days of this happening the police believe her father is stealing them. But Theo and the Serpents of Chaos know the real powers of the staff - and the Serpents will stop at nothing to get it.

In Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus, she attends a show for an Egyptian magician named Awi Bubu, and it appears that he is more authentic than she expected. Soon after, she and her brother discover an emerald tablet hidden inside another artifact at the museum, and before long the Serpents of Chaos, the Arcane Order of the Black Sun, and even Awi Bubu himself are after it. The only group who isn't interested is the Brotherhood of Chosen Keepers - the very one who ought to be taking a most careful notice.

These are fun books that read much faster than their length would indicate. Theo is, like the advertising blurbs say, kind of a cross between Nancy Drew and Indiana Jones. She tells the story in first person with a droll sense of humor and frequently finds herself in impossibly dangerous and difficult circumstances, yet seems to take it all with characteristically low-key English stride. Fans of the Percy Jackson series ought to enjoy this one.