The Night of Four Hundred Rabbits

The Night of Four Hundred Rabbits Elizabeth Peters Date: 1971   —   $6.29   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Mystery

Carol Farley knew it was too good to be true. The minor inheritance, coming right after someone had sent her newspaper articles about her long-lost father, could only be a trick. And yet, it seems only natural for her to visit Mexico on her spring break, to visit the father she barely remembers and resolve those issues from the past.

And yet, her trip with her boyfriend, Danny, seems to be turning out much as she feared. Her father blows cold, then warms up immediately; the family he is living with seems alternately loving and afraid of Carol. The servant, someone who follows the old customs, keeps muttering about dark magics; Carol is accosted outside her hotel.

And yet, it is the ruins that fascinate her the most, the pyramids and murals outside of Mexico City. She is lulled into a false sense of security by the normal-seeming events, the typical tourist things that happen. Of course, she curses herself for it later, when things fall to pieces...

I prefer this book to the Camelot Caper for many reasons, primary among them the fact that the pieces are presented for your inspection, and a smart person has a hint that it can all be put together in the end. The sense of danger seems comprehensible, if not understood at the moment.