The Xibalba Murders (Archaeological Mysteries, No. 1) [Paperback]

Lyn Hamilton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1997

Traveling to Mexico to help her friend, Dr. Castillo, with a mysterious project, Lara McClintoch is shocked when she arrives to discover the doctor murdered and begins an investigation in the surrounding jungles. Original.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425157229
• ISBN-13: 978-0425157220
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #482,177 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Horrible writing, November 27, 1999

By 

L. Blumenthal "lynn" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Xibalba Murders (Archaeological Mysteries, No. 1) (Paperback)

I grabbed this book because I'm fascinated with Mayan history.I was sorry I spent the time on it. Although the historical information was quite good, the mystery was awful: cardboard characters, an obvious villian, unbelievable dialog, overuse of the same adjectives over and over. The author even interrupts the climax to explain the theme to us poor, brain-dead readers.

This book only deserves two stars (rather than one) for its excellent historical research, which is well presented. As a mystery, it's horrid. I play to say far away from Lyn Hamilton in the future. However, if anyone would like to read a good Mayan-history based book, Pat Murphy's "The Falling Woman" (Tor) is a fantastic book. It's not a mystery, rather a fantasy or magical-realism book, but it's quite wonderful and has all the element that this book lacks.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Unbeievable Ending, October 18, 2000

By 

Artbooklover "ML" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Xibalba Murders (Archaeological Mysteries, No. 1) (Paperback)

I really wanted to like this book because I love mysteries and have always been fascinated with Mexico and its history (and the research of the book seems flawless, at least to this non-expert). And the writing is swift, clean, almost humorous sometimes. In fact, I'd call it 3/4 of a good (not great) book. But it nosedives into implausibility and oversimplification. A quick "readable" disappointment.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disconnect, September 13, 2005

By 

Jessie loves to read "Jessie" (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Xibalba Murders (Archaeological Mysteries, No. 1) (Paperback)

I was excited to read this book, I love both archaeology and mysteries, however, I was disappointed with the read. I never felt any connection with the main charactor. Just spewing forth about a charactors obstacles in her life does not connect a reader to her, nor does it round out her charactor. More is needed to prevent her (the charactor) from seeming distant.
The parts of the book that should have been exciting were not. I was actually bored with the action. The Mayan history was good. It could have been used better to bring the plot along...instead of presented in a lecture type manner.
Perhaps this is just a first novel and the author improves with future books. I will give another a try, simply because I love the possibilies of the themes.