Customer Reviews

Stalking Ivory: A Jade Del Cameron Mystery

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In 1920 with the war over and the need for female ambulance drivers also over, Jade del Cameron completed a death bed promise in British East Africa (see MARK OF THE LION). Though her quest is done, Jade decides to stay for now and even mentors a preadolescent lad, Jelani.

Jade accompanied by her friends Lord Avery Dunbury and his wife Beverly, and Jelani head towards the Mount Marasbit elephant preserve, but are horrified by the corpses of four elephants killed for their tusks as ivory sells big in western markets. Nearby she also finds the remains of a King's soldier obviously killed by the poachers who butchered the elephants. Jade especially personalizes the kills and vows to bring to justice to the poachers whether they are natives, Abyssinian raiders, western safari leaders like Harry Hascombe, or some other avaricious souls.

STAKING IVORY is a delightful historical whodunit starring an independent courageous woman who wants to see justice occur for the brutally slaughtered animals and the dead soldier. Jade risks her life to do so though she finds an ally in a pilot Sam Featherstone. Fans of Alexander McCall Smith's Precious Ramotswe No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency tales will join Jade on her amateur sleuthing safari.

Harriet Klausner

I've enjoyed two books in this series so far. The writing is crisp, the settings fascinating, and the characters well sketched. As a fan of Amelia Peabody and her Egyptian/London adventures, I'm always looking for similar series.

Jade has lots of potential. She's almost TOO tough at times. I find myself wishing that just once she'd put on a dress, some lipstick and sip a bit of champagne! I also find myself liking Harry, the rather dashing hunter that she mistrusts and abuses, rather than the new heroic Sam, who seems just a little bit too perfect.

A most enjoyable book, and I'm looking forward to further ventures!

American Jade del Cameron has ended up in British East Africa, after working as an ambulance driver in the Great War. She has settled on a career of travel writing and photography in Africa, and travels out to the wild to photograph elephants. Traveling with her are her friends Beverly and Avery Dunbury, her young charge Jelani, and her pet cheetah, Biscuit.

They stumble across elephant carcasses, victims of ivory poachers, as well as her old friend and irritating suitor Harry Hascombe and the party of German tourists he is leading on a safari.

Jade is suspicious of Harry and his Germans, and finds clues linking them to the poachers and to gun smuggling. Young American pilot Sam Featherstone arrives at their camp, hoping to make movies of elephants, complicating the plot and Jade's feelings. Since her fiance, a pilot in the war, was killed she has resolutely avoided romantic entanglements.

Jade tracks the poachers, finds and hides a cache of German guns, sets snares, dismantles a pit trap, and tracks down Jelani when he is kidnapped by slavers. She does get a tiny bit of help from her friends--and an unusual man who appears out of nowhere, an ancient and mysterious native named Boguli, who leads her to safe trails and hiding places when she is stalking the evil leader of the poachers.

Armchair Interviews says: This book follows The Mark of the Lion. Arruda is a zookeeper and biologist, and has researched her wildlife extensively. If you like Isak Dinesen, and Beryl Markham, Jade is a woman in their mold.

Set in British East Africa shortly after the end of World War I, "Stalking Ivory" is the second novel featuring American adventurer turned photojournalist Jade del Cameron. In this story, Jade has travelled to an area of Northern Kenya called Mount Marsabit to take photos of elephants for the magazine "The Traveller". But when Jade and her British friends stumble upon slaughtered elephants with their ivory hacked off, they quickly realize they are on the trail of a group of poachers. Not to mention their discovery of a murdered Kings African Rifle soldier along with the elephants.

This fast-paced, exciting story brings back several characters introduced in the first Jade del Cameron story "The Mark of the Lion". A key figure in the story is Jelani, a young Kikuyu boy whom Jade and her British friends the Averys have adopted. When Jelani is kidnapped from their camp, an enraged Jade sets off through the savannah and desert to find him and bring the kidnappers to justice. This story also introduces a possible romantic interest for Jade, an American film-maker named Sam Featherstone. Readers will have to wait for the next book in this series to see where the relationship between Jade and Sam is headed.

This book was thoroughly enjoyable, full of great African scenery and larger than life characters. I highly recommend this book and its predecessor "The Mark of the Lion."

This follow-up to Suzanne Arruda's first novel in this series continues the story lines set in the debut novel, "Mark of the Lion." Like its predecessor, there's much to like about this story. Having visited Africa and being a travel writer myself, I can really relate to the locale and the heroine, and I loved the way each chapter begins with an "excerpt" from Jade's magazine articles. The narrative is very well paced, and the way the author weaves in the mystic spirituality of Native African culture is very well done. It could have been off-putting if not handled correctly, as combining magic with a whodunit plot could really cause a book to flop if not done just right. This looks like another "series" I'm going to have continue buying.

I have not been reading these books in order, but the more I read them, the more I enjoy them. These are fun, campy, adventure mysteries--kind of, grown up Nancy Drew stories. Jade del Cameron was an ambulance driver in France during the Great War. Now that the war is over, she is trying to make a living writing articles and taking photographs for a travel magazine. She is in Africa with her friends, Beverly and Avery, doing a story on elephants. It's soon obvious that they have stumbled onto an elephant poaching and arms smuggling operation. But who is responsible? Risking her own life, with her knife in her boot and her rifle over her shoulder, Jade is determined to find out. This is also the story during which Jade meets her future lover, Sam Featherstone. Fun.

brezy,fun adventure novel filled with historic tidbits about east afrca in the 20s and 30s,since i have gone on safari w/o a gun ,gave me a whole new perspective

I have to say that I fell in LOVE with Jade Del Cameron. I love reading a good mystery, add a little history to the novel and I can be hooked. The author has done an amazing job at linking the historical time period to a fun and easy reading mystery. Along the lines of Elizabeth Peters "Amelia Peabody", whose sleuthing escapes keeps us coming back, you will find Jade captivating - I can't wait for the next adventure!

I happened upon the first book in the Jade del Cameron series at Half Price Books some months ago. It took a while to get into, but when I did, I was hooked. "Stalking Ivory" proved to be twice as good. A quick and easy read with a lot of historical information thrown in. I've looked a lot up since starting these books and have learned a great deal. Jade is witty and strong, sensitive but bull headed. She's a perfect female heroine! I'm onto book 3 and devouring it! I hope Suzanne gets the credit she deserves for this series and I hope the series is long lived!

The indomitable Jade del Cameron is back in British East Africa, this time out photographing elephants for the magazine she works for. Jade's best friends, 12-year-old Jelani and Lord Avery and Lady Beverly Dunbury, accompany her to the forest, while another old acquaintance, Harry Hascombe, is camping nearby, leading a safari of his own. It doesn't take long for intrigue to land in Jade's lap when she and her friends discover the carcasses of four slain elephants, and one murdered soldier. They send a runner to report the deaths to the authorities, but Jade isn't about to wait around and do nothing in the interim, especially when she's shot at twice in one day. Still not willing to forgive Harry for attempting to dupe her in the past, she suspects his safari of being involved in the poaching, so she and the Duburys visit his camp and meet his German clients, who are an odd bunch, to say the least.

During her forest wanderings, Jade also stumbles upon the poachers' cache of ivory, along with several crates of rifles. She knows there's more underfoot than just elephant poaching, though the evidence shows that the same individuals are behind all of it. Jade is assisted this time out by an American pilot friend of the Dunburys who joins them on safari, Sam Featherstone. Sam was a pilot in the war, and Jade finds herself attracted to him despite thinking the attraction may be just because he's a pilot, like her dead almost fiancé. Sam proves a valuable ally, though, when her gun bearer is shot, and then when young Jelani is kidnapped by slave traders. Jade keeps fearlessly investigating the poaching and gun running despite her friends' worries, not in the least concerned about her own welfare when elephants are being killed and someone is apparently getting ready to stage a revolution. Then when Jelani disappears, all bets are off.

I liked Jade del Cameron off the bat in her first adventure, Mark of the Lion. This book just made me like her more. She's fearless and very independent, but she is not full of herself or preachy. It is fun to see a woman with her personality in this setting, well in advance of the women's movement. She is not a feminist, just an extremely capable realist. It will be interesting to see where her relationship with Sam goes in future novels. Unfortunately, there has only been one more Jade del Cameron adventure published so far, and once I gobble that up I'll have to wait several months for her next.