A Treasure Hunt Mystery

There's very little glory for historians, especially if they are professors, so when I found Gigi Pandian's Artifact, I was thrilled. Jaya Jones is the daughter of an American hippie who moved to India and married an Indian woman. As her friend Sanjay says about her, "you are the worst Indian" because she doesn't speak any of the Indian languages and doesn't recall much of her early life in India.

When she receives a mysterious package from her former boyfriend, Jaya discovers it contains an exquisite gold bracelet with an enormous ruby. The included note from Rubert says he needs her help and asks her to keep the artifact safe. "You are the only one I can trust," he says and asks her to call him on his mobile. Jaya remembers Rupert as the treasurer hunting type of archeologist and she is worried about the piece of jewelry and what it means that Rupert had it in his possession.

Unfortunately before she is able to contact him, Jaya discovers a

small article in the newspaper reporting the death of Rupert Chadwick in an automobile accident in Scotland. Jaya is puzzled why Rupert would have sent her the package and asked for her help. Her field of expertise is the trade routes and military skirmishes of the British East Indian Company, not ancient Indian jewels.

Helping her decipher the cryptic clues are her magician friend Sanjay, a handsome art historian Lane Peters and a charming archeologist. Jaya and Lane head for the archeological dig in Scotland to discover what other pieces of the mysterious rubies might be at the site and why a cache of Indian jewelry would be found in Scotland.

I enjoyed this book and have read the others in the series including Pirate Vishnu, Quicksand and Michelangelo's Ghost.