The Mummy snatcher of Memphis

Some books give you such a strong sense of place and time and this is certainly the case with the Mummy Snatcher of Memphis with the dark alley ways of nineteenth century London through to the deserts of Egypt.

Kit, the only daughter of Professor Theodore Salter, attends the opening of a new mummy exhibition which includes items recently acquired by her aunt Hilda who is a famous explorer. The boxes are taken into the museum and while Hilda and Professor Salter are outside waiting for the next carriage the children hear strange noises coming from the largest packing box. “It was dark inside the box. A glimpse of golden paint, shining off the sarcophagus…. Then I noticed something dark and crouching. The whites of two eyes peering through the gloom.”.

The contents of the mummy case lead the children on a wild adventure to Egypt from Cairo to Siwa across the dangerous desert. They are hunting for the scarab beetle which has caused a curse.

I found the last few chapters exciting but a little confusing as I lost track of just why everyone was frantically trying to reach the temple at Siwa and why these crazy English villains were so desperate for the scarab.

Putting that to one side I will look out for the next three Kit Salter adventures I am sure they will be just as wild as this one. The author has a good web site worth checking out. You can read more about the plot on this blog.