Dark of Night by Barbara Nickless

Dark of Night

By Barbara Nickless

Series:

Dr. Evan Wilding # 2

Genre:

Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Crime

Pages:

356

Released:

Nov. 15, 2022

My Rating:

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars

Synopsis:

A recent murder is ancient history in a breathtaking novel about a sacred lost treasure and poisonous retribution by the Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of At First Light.

What an exotic way to die in Chicago.

When esteemed historian Elizabeth Lawrence is found in her car, killed by a cobra’s bite, only a brilliant professor of semiotics, Dr. Evan Wilding, can see the signs around her strange death. As he helps homicide detective Addie Bisset decipher the scene, the puzzles left behind offer Evan chilling passage into the mind of a killer.

Evan’s investigation merges with that of an Israeli agent, who claims Elizabeth was close to acquiring an invaluable artifact. She was also drawing the attention of unsavory treasure hunters, forgers, and thieves. Was someone desperate to expose the truth of Elizabeth’s astonishing discovery?

The deeper Evan and Addie delve into the case, the darker it gets. A murderer’s archaic crimes are just the beginning. In a race where there can be only one winner, the final victim might be Evan.

My Thoughts:

Of course, I jumped into a series starting with the second book - which I am very prone to do. But this one sounded so interesting with its archeological background and Egyptian history that I had to request it on NetGalley. It sounded very Da Vinci Code-ish.

I was interested in the mystery itself and the main character, Evan. There definitely was a lot of research that went into this book and I enjoyed that part of it. I did get lost along the way with what seemed like an endless set of characters and suspects. I kept getting confused about who was who and what part they played in the story. But this could just be because I started with the second book and didn't get introduced to some of them in the first book.

I also thought it would have more action and adventure to do with treasure hunting and stolen artifacts - but in reality, it was just a mystery book with a few thrilling scenes. Personally, for me, this one just didn't do it and I kept finding it so easy to set down and dragged along for me. But since I wanted to know what happened to Elizabeth - I kept pushing through.

I ended up giving this a 2.5-star rating rounded up to a 3. While I liked the MCs and the mystery aspect - I just found myself getting lost most of the time. I have heard great things about this author and her other series so maybe I'll give another book of hers a try.

Big thanks to Barbara Nickless, Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.