Three Complete Novels Death in Kenya, Death in Zanzabar, Death in Cyprus [Hardcover]

M.M. Kaye (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 19, 1993

A collection of three novels by the famed British mystery writer features Death in Kenya, Death in Zanzibar, and Death in Cyprus.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 646 pages
• Publisher: Wings Books (December 19, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 051710024X
• ISBN-13: 978-0517100240
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,154,217 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love her, love her, love her!, January 13, 2005

By 

S. K. Woods (Freeville, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Three Complete Novels Death in Kenya, Death in Zanzabar, Death in Cyprus (Hardcover)

If you want a lush period mystery that will keep you guessing, set somewhere exotic and far away, and with a little romantic action thrown in - you can't go wrong with an M.M. Kaye - a wonderful story-teller who knows how to write vivid description without interfering with the story, and dialogue that is realistic, witty and makes you hear the voices in your head and really get to know the characters. These books run like movies in your head. Don't stop with these three - find Death in the Andamans, Death in Berlin, Death in Kashmir. And if you enjoy Death in Zanzibar and want to know what happened 100 years earlier, go read Kaye's Trade Wind too- an historical novel set in Zanzibar - you'll be annoyed with the heroine til she finally wizes up (but that's the point), but you'll love the story, the intrigue, and the magnetic hero.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Novels by MM Kaye, March 3, 2010

By 

D. Bieber (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Three Complete Novels Death in Kenya, Death in Zanzabar, Death in Cyprus (Hardcover)

I have always enjoyed M.M. Kaye's books and the way she tells a story. The three stories in this book were ones that my library didn't have. I was so excited to see them all in one book. I enjoy her exotic locations and a story that keeps you guessing until the end. Each book has excellent story telling that describes the locals and the caricatures vividly without all the blood and gore that is prevalent in so many modern books. I highly recommend reading one of her books if you have never had the opportunity.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Old-fashioned Mystery and Romance, June 1, 2008

By 

Bobby Underwood "starlighthotel" (Manly NSW, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Three Complete Novels Death in Kenya, Death in Zanzabar, Death in Cyprus (Hardcover)

If you like old-fashioned mystery and romance set in an exotic locale, this trio from M.M. Kaye is fabulous. One of the great writers of her era, her lush descriptions of exotic locales she and her husband visited as she followed the drum come alive once again in these atmospheric novels of mystery. Zanzibar, Kenya, and Cyprus are all remembered, Kaye sharing her impressions of those magical places before time would change them forever.

In "Death in Kenya" young Victoria Caryll returns to a family estate in the Kenyan Rift Valley as it recovers from a bloody Mau Mau uprising. Eden Debrett is the man who left her for Alice. But Alice's murder will bring mystery and danger to the lush and romantic locale in one of Kaye's finest tales.

"Death in Zanzibar" has a light and entertaining feel and a very likable heroine in Dany Ashton. The characters are colorful and fit right in to the time period. Lash is a young man-about-town who slowly comes into his own helping Dany with a ruse during their trip to Zanaibar and the House of Shade, where the mystery of why her hotel room was broken into and her passport taken deepens into murder and more. We get to see Zanzibar as Kaye saw it, through Dany's eyes.

This is a very fun and entertaining mystery with the values and mores of a bygone era. It is the kind of old-fashioned mystery and romance not written anymore, and perhaps never as well as M.M. Kaye did. Dany is sweet and endearing as she shows old-fashioned bravado during the course of the mystery. She will emerge from her mother's shadow and come into her own just as Lash does. A growing romance develops between she and Lash, of course, in this fun and highly enjoyable mystery which is perhaps my favorite.

Set in an enchanting Cyprus that Kaye realized was too good to last, Kaye made the sun shine bright once again on it in "Death in Cyprus." Places like Port Said, Fayid, Limassol, Nicosia and Kyrenia come alive and are filled with beauty and adventure. It is a wonderful adventure and romance touched with danger. Sunlit garden verandas and dinner tables overlooking a crystal sea of jade and emerald are described in such a manner you can almost taste them like a fresh purple grape from the vineyards of Nicosia. The setting is ripe for romance, but danger as well, and Kaye brought together both in one of her finest mysteries.

Young and lovely twenty-year-old Amanda Derrington will board the S.S. Orantares and meet a group of people who will play an important part in her life in ways she could not have imagined. Before she leaves the ship for a stay in beautiful Cyprus a murder will occur that will reach the white-walled houses of Cyprus, shining bright against the sea. Only Amanda and Stephen Howard, a painter who carries a gun and may be more than he seems to be, know that it was murder, and not a suicide. That knowledge will put her life in grave danger.

The romance of Stephen and Amanda, or Amarantha as he calls her, is a very old-fashioned one which has more in common with films of the 1930's than the writing styles of modern times. A moonlight kiss will complicate matters, as will a second, and unexpected murder. And an attempt will be made on Amanda's life while in Kyrenia which will nearly succeed. You will not guess the killer or the motive, although the clues are there. The last few moments will be fraught with danger and excitement, and just when you believe all has been revealed, the true insanity of the killer will change what you though you knew.

A fine and vivid assortment of characters enliven the story almost as much as the exotic locale. Grand beauty and old-fashioned romance amidst an ever-growing danger do the rest, making this a memorable mystery with romance that outshines everyone else who wrote in this genre. Those who love Kaye's sprawling novels of romance in lush locales will be delighted to discover she also penned these terrific mysteries.

This particular mystery and romance novel was born in 1949 when M. M. Kaye and her husband were staying in Egypt because his regiment was assigned there. A painting holiday in Cyprus she and a friend took would sow all the seeds for "Death in Cyprus." The house described in Kyrenia is the actual one Kaye and her friend stayed in while there. A series of curious incidents witnessed by Kaye on her stay gave birth to the novel she would not have the opportunity to write for another five years.

M.M. Kaye is one of the truly great writers from an era which saw them come in clusters. For those who like their mysteries and their romance mixed together in a pleasing and old-fashioned manner, no one ever did it as well as M.M. Kaye. This trio of mystery novels is a must for Kaye fans.