The third entry in the museum and artifact-themed Zelda Richardson quasi-cozy mystery series has much to offer those fascinated with other cultures, especially primitive ones. Like Lover’s Portrait, the second in the series, there are intermittent flashbacks woven throughout the present day narrative which have a direct correlation to what’s happening now. The author has done a good job in making the flashbacks to Nicholas Mayfield’s expedition in 1962 as interesting as the present day narrative of Zelda’s involvement with an exhibition about the Asmat culture. Because Mayfield disappeared mysteriously, the reader already has one mystery, and more are added when crates stored for decades create more mysteries than they solve.

Bis Poles, old bones that shouldn’t be there, a belt buckle and a discovered journal Zelda is charged with transcribing for the Tropenmuseum of Amsterdam are only a few elements of this mystery. The author does a good job of bringing the reader into this world, showing the conflicts between governments and museums in regard to exhibits and ownership of artifacts. She does an even better job of making it all interesting, and flow well. While there is no breathtaking pace, a likable protagonist, and the developing mystery — amidst the museum setting, and in the past — is all entertaining enough and interesting enough to keep the reader turning pages.

Zelda photographs and catalogs items while transcribing a journal they hope will help answer some of the questions surrounding Mayfield’s expedition, and his mysterious disappearance. It turns out that someone close to home was part of that expedition, but their reaction to the discoveries are unexpected, creating another mystery. Up to this point, this is definitely cozy mystery country, but then there is a brutal murder, and the journal is gone. The sudden violence, though committed offscreen as befits a cerebral cozy, is very well done, and has an impact for the reader. This is where I had a minor caveat, however.

It’s done so well, you expect it to take the story — Zelda — in that direction. Yet, we quickly get back into the day-to-day work on the exhibit, alternating between flashbacks of the ill-fated expedition of young and wealthy Nicholas Mayfield. While that isn’t a bad thing, as it’s all interesting, the impact of the murder was muted somewhat, the opportunity to ratchet up the tension smothered a bit in the day-to-day goings on for this reader. By the time there is a second murder, it was difficult to recall the first, and recapture the impact. It’s a minor caveat, however, since this is an entertaining and interesting read in this genre. It did make the finale a bit flat for me, however, but I suspect those who love the cozy genre will be very pleased.

My only other caveat, has to do with the romantic side of the Zelda Richardson mysteries. In the previous entry, Lover’s Portrait, the reader got to know and like Zelda’s friend, Friedrich. The narrative very much appeared to be building toward a romance between them. The author went another direction, however, which is fine, and the Friedrich character was relegated to “friend” status. I assumed at the time — and believe I commented about it in my review of Lover’s Portrait — that this was probably to keep Zelda free for future books. And that’s exactly what I got here with the Jacob character. But…

My first issue was that Friedrich here didn’t figure in much, and a few times came off as sort of immature. My second was the blandness of Zelda’s relationship with Jacob. When it came up, I actually had to go back to remember who he was in the story. The relationship of Friedrich and Zelda in Lover’s Portrait was engaging — even if inevitably disappointing. I felt at the time that it was an opportunity missed, because there was such charm there. Here, I neither liked nor disliked Jacob, and it didn’t have the same charm or backstory as the one in Lover’s Portrait. Like the climax, it seemed a tad artificial, just a tiny bit perfunctory.

I have to stress these are ticky-tack caveats, and not ones I’d allow to affect my rating. The audience for this will most likely find it extremely enjoyable. I did as well. I guess what I’m saying, is while I really liked Rituals of the Dead, I liked Lover’s Portrait a tad more. Rituals of the Dead is a fine read in the cozy mystery genre. But while it is perhaps more technically polished than the previous entry, I thought Lover’s Portrait had a bit more heart. Still, I’m giving this four stars (probably 4.2 for me) because it succeeds as an entertaining read in this genre, and I enjoyed it. ( )

Note: Even though this is Book 3, it works fine as a stand alone novel.

Zelda Richardson continues to stumble around the antiquities gathered in Holland, making enemies and uncovering old mysteries. I liked this story quite a bit more than Book 2 mostly because I like Zelda more. She’s grown up a bit and now comes off as perhaps 20 years old instead of 15. She’s still a bit unsure of herself and not the swiftest to catch on, but some of that can be excused by the extraordinary circumstances she finds herself in.

Papua, New Guinea is the featured culture in this novel. Once upon a time, Dutch colonists cluttered up the Papua countryside bringing Christianity, modern medicine, and boxer shorts while also taking away cultural artifacts. The story portrays both sides of how modern peoples with their religions and sciences both helped and harmed the native peoples. I really like that the author didn’t shy away from showing this. It would have been easy to throw a rosy blanket over it but it’s way more interesting this way.

Zelda is still hanging out with her friend Friedrich but he’s got a much smaller role in this novel. Zelda still has him strictly in the Friend Zone even as she dates a few other guys. Her boss (Meric – spelling?) still questions if she’s the right one for the internship or not. Basically, Zelda’s life is this constant teetering see-saw. Albert Schenk still isn’t her fan.

The Amsterdam museum she works for is trying to gather enough Asmat New Guinea art pieces for a good show and Zelda has been tasked with gathering as much basic info as she can. In digging up info, she learns of an American artifact obtainer, Nicholas, who went missing in the 1960s. The story has a series of flashbacks showing what Nicholas was doing up to his disappearance and those are quite well told. Even as I enjoyed them, I wish there had been more Papua characters in the tale.

In the 1960s, the priests sent to convert the indigenous peoples to Christianity were instructed to destroy old, ritualistic artifacts and art (which had been obtained by trading medicine and living utensils for them). This put some people in a difficult place – not everyone agreed that destroying these cultural items was the right thing to do. It’s a great little slice of questionable history to explore through this murder mystery.

The murder mystery part is a little long in getting spun up but I felt it was a delicious burn. We have one murder at the museum that doesn’t point to anything Zelda is tripping around in. Then later we get a second one that definitely points to whatever Zelda has gotten herself in. Plus there’s that decades old mystery of the missing American to solve. In the end, things mostly get figured out by Zelda though one small piece to the puzzle comes out in a random confession… and I felt that was a plot device and not really something the character would do.

All told, it’s an interesting mystery and I’m now warmed up to Zelda. 4/5 stars.

The Narration: For some reason, this series switches narrators which I find a bit distracting when I’m listening to a series back to back. Chelsea Stephens does a good job with Zelda’s voice. All her character voices are distinct though her male voices need masculinity. She did a good job portraying Zelda’s emotions and her pacing was good too. I know it’s a bit to ask, but since this is set in Holland, it would be nice to have a Dutch accent for the Dutch characters. That would really make it feel like the story is set in Amsterdam and not just any Midwestern USA city. 4/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Jennifer S. Alderson. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it. ( )