Gina "Tinkerbell" Miyoko barely hits five feet, but her fierce attitude makes up for her tiny stature and keeps her busy as a private detective in San Francisco. Her mother (who may or may not be a Russian witch) and her father (a former SFPD detective), are very protective, constantly overloading Gina with Russian obereg and Japanese mingei as charms to protect her.
Gina may need the charms most when she gets a case far outside her usual realm of cheating spouses and deadbeat dads. Her best friend, Rose, an undercover agent for the National Park Service, is worried she's being stalked, so the NPS hires Gina to be Rose's bodyguard on a mission to break up a ring of Mayan antiquities smugglers. But plans go awry, and Rose is badly injured, forcing Gina to take Rose's place. Suddenly Gina is in Mexico, with a handsome archeologist assisting her as she cozies up to some Mexican bigwigs. She'll need every bit of her brashness and wits to outsmart the bad guys, protect the antiquities and resist Dr. Cruz Veras's allure.
Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff (The Spirit Gate; The Last Jedi: Star Wars Legends) has created a fun mystery, starring a gutsy, likable heroine and a distinctive setting. The Antiquities Hunter deftly blends Mayan history and antiquities markets, as well as Russian and Japanese traditions, with motorcycles and dead bodies. Gina's mixed heritage and insatiable curiosity make her a wildly entertaining character, sure to appeal to fans of Stephanie Plum. --Jessica Howard, bookseller at Bookmans, Tucson, Ariz.