This was a little too twee and implausible for me but I liked Gina aka Tink who goes undercover (seriously) for the National Park Service when her pal Rose is injured and looks for missing antiquities in Mexico. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. While this was a dnf for. me I'd like to see more from Bohnhoff.

thanks to netgalley & pegasus books for a copy of the ebook in exchange for a review.

Gina Miyoko, also known as Tinkerbell, also known as Tink, has a lot going on. She's also quirks, but no substance. For the first two thirds, it felt like constant examples of Tink telling us ways in which she (either via her own quirks or her parents') is very, very interesting and unique<. It was annoying to read and dragged the story down. The lack of substance really comes through when it comes to Gina's profession. She's a former cop and current private investigator who is eventually hired by officials to be her friend's bodyguard. She then goes undercover agent with another main character as her backup. But she seems completely unqualified to be a private investigator, bodyguard, or undercover agent, and none of those qualities meaningfully affect the story or it's resolution. Gina's professions and background just become another example of how she's supposed to be unique and special, but with the same amount of impact as her living in a houseboat (no impact, none).

The mystery and adventure elements are barely there so I honestly don't have a lot to say. It's predictable but I don't know if it is intended to be much of a mystery or more of an adventure story?

The Antiquities Hunter is the first in what I assume is going to be a series. It’s classified as a mystery, but it felt more like a thriller to me.

Gina Myoko is a San Francisco P.I. whose best friend, Rose, is a National Park Agent (in case you’re confused about the difference because an NPS agent and an NPS Ranger, don’t worry, you’ll find out in the info dump at the beginning). Rose thinks she is being followed and is being threatened, possibly to scare her off one of her cases, and so Rose's boss decides to go ahead and hire Gina as a body guard for Rose (this seemed really ridiculous to me).

Then, when Rose is shot in the middle of an investigation involving stolen Mexican artifacts, Gina goes undercover in her place. This also seemed really ridiculous to me. The National Park Service really had no other agent that could go in Rose's place? Really? I also don't see the Federal government being like "yeah, no problem we'll pay for a body guard" and "money and lawsuits and contracts are no concern, we'll hire a P.I. to go undercover, why not". So the premise is interesting, but not really believable.

This is a fast paced book that jumps right into the action (...after the info dump that is). I think Gina (aka Tink) is supposed to be intriguing and quirky, but the most interesting thing about this book is the NPS angle, and since Gina isn’t herself involved with NPS I’m not sure what tack the series is going to take.

The "mystery" itself isn't really much of a mystery - I won't spoil it, but there aren't really any clues to follow to solve it, and given the limited cast of characters, as long as you assume the author is playing fair and it's one of them rather than someone we haven't met, it's really easy to figure out.

If you like light thrillers and are interested in pyramids/ruins and the black market for stolen antiquities you may like this book.

In Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff's The Antiquities Hunter, the first installment of the Gina Myoko Mystery series, this would send you on a swagbuckling adventurous journey that's a cross between Lara Croft and Indiana Jones. Gina Myoko is a private detective and decided to help her best friend Rose, an agent for the National Park Service, look for clues on who's been stalking her. But when her best friend ends up in a coma from a car accident, it's up to Gina to head to Mexico to track down a powerful antiquities hunter. But for Gina, who's petite, half-Russian and half-Japanese, she comes across Dr. Cruz Veras, an archeologist and a journalist at the same time, who's after the same goal. And when they first found a black market dealer dead, they would have to pull off an undercover stint to get the goods on the ring leader and his ring, even if she has to ward off his advances from him. The closer they get to the truth and learn more about Mexican gods and goddesses of the past in a temple, they ended up trapped in a lethal serpentine labyrinth when Gina learns who betrayed them and why in a struggle for life and death.

I thought this was terrific! Okay, yes, some belief has to be suspended in that a PI would be put undercover with the National Park service so quickly and easily, but Gina is such a terrific character that I happily suspended that belief. Gina's funny, smart, and both physically and mentally capable of holding her own, although there's a point where all that fails her temporarily and she winds up vulnerable and scared.

The characters who surround her are also well done and well rounded. Her parents are unusual but entirely supportive of her; her best friend, Rose, and her family are a big part of Gina's life and also very close to her. Gina lives on a houseboat in San Francisco, close to her parents' boat, and I enjoyed this unusual, unique detail.

In this first installment, Gina gets hired by the National Park Service to assist them with watching Rose, who is being stalked by someone. She assumes it has something to do with one of her undercover cases, exposing antiquities theft and blackmarketing. When she is shot, causing her serious injury, Gina and Cruz Verdes, a man of many talents who'd been tailing Rose for a journalistic interview, team up to unravel the latest mystery of where some new Mayan artifacts have been unearthed.

This is definitely not a cosy mystery. I would consider it more hard-boiled, verging on being a thriller. Although there was quite an information dump at the beginning and I struggled to get into it, it came together quite nicely and I was hooked about three or four chapters in. I read most of it in one afternoon.

I'm very much looking forward to the next in the series.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Great suspense story. I enjoyed the book.

This contemporary suspense novel deftly recalls the early antiquities thrillers of Elizabeth Peters (Night of the 400 Rabbits) and the competent-female-PI novels of Sara Paretsky. Gina Miyoko is focused, skilled, and self-aware. Rose is believable as a competent agent whose work is spilling over into her home life. The web of possible motives is compelling for anyone interested in the trade in illegal antiquities, specifically Central America and some about the US Southwest. The romantic elements were believable and did not overpower the mystery plot. A most enjoyable weekend read.

There was a lot to like about this series! Nearly all the characters were people of color, the main character was a kick-butt female who both showed emotions and also took no shit, the locations frolicked nicely between the US and South America, which was a treat for the mind. All in all, I'd say this was a great start to a new mystery series I will really enjoy.

The Antiquities Hunter by Maya Bohnhoff, an enjoyable read of a private investigator who is drawn into a search for stolen antiquities. Gina is protecting her friend -an NPS agent- when her friend gets shot in what appears to be an attempt to stop the search. Gina refuses to take it lying down and joins in to find the source of the stolen goods. If you enjoy a well - written stolen goods mystery put this book on your TBR list.

A typical fast-paced, jungle adventure with Gina Miyoko taking the female lead as a feisty San Francisco PI. Family characters are fun, some humour, although I did find the plot predictable.

This book almost lost me at the beginning, but as I continued I was interested in the idea of museums using nefarious means to gain cultural antiquities.

Gina “Tinerbell” Miyoko is not what you might picture when you conjure up an image of a private investigator. Carrying a blue Magnum, holy water, a Japanese mingei for good luck. and riding a Harley, Tink definitely stands out in a crowd. And that’s saying something when you live in San Francisco. Tink”s BFF Rose, an investigator herself is facing heat as an approaching trial about the theft of artifacts from the Ancient Ones approaches. Worried about her stalker, Rose hires Tink to watch her back. But things go South and Rose is injured, so Tink takes her place, traveling to the jungles of Mexico and the lair of a powerful and dangerous collector who will let no one stand in the way of what he wants. This book opens with a bang and doesn’t slow down. A wild ride that I thoroughly enjoyed