Free (Kindle) Kiss of the Cobra by Peter Tremayne [Archaeological Horror Thriller]

[ATDrake]

Kiss of the Cobra by British author Peter Tremayne (ISFDB, Wikipedia), perhaps best known as the author of the popular Sister Fidelma historical mystery series, is his standalone archaeological horror thriller, involving modern academics breaking into the ancient Bengali burial chamber of a devoted couple for what they think is the find of the century, as you do, but turns out to be protected by the gods with the obligatory terrible curse, leaving a trail of strange deaths to investigate despite obstacles both mortal and supernatural, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press' Venture imprint.

This was originally published in 1984 by Sphere and must have sold well (or at least have had particular appeal to an editor somewhere), since it was also reprinted a decade later by Severn House. From a skim of the opening chapters, it looks like Tremayne did a decent amount of location and cultural historical research for this, which is always nice to see.

Currently free @ Amazon (available to Canadians & in the UK and pretty much everywhere else Amazon sells worldwide, since this is being done via their KDP Select exclusive-or-else program)

Description
When Sir Keith Chase of Oxford University and Chandra Sen stumble upon the sacred crypt of Monosha in West Bengal, they think it is the archaeological find of the century.

What Keith didn't know was that by breaking open the musty burial chamber, he had brought upon himself one of the most ancient and terrifying curses known to Man.

The mysterious Temple of Anant, the burial location of Anandatirtha and his low caste wife, Khullana, is guarded by Lord Shiva, God of Destruction and his wife Durga.

The depth of the couple’s love touched the hearts of the deities, who swore a pact with Anandatirtha to protect them within the sanctuary of the temple.

Durga swore that she would stand guard with her sister Monosha, the mother serpent, whose earthly form is that of a cobra. Woe betide any god or mortal who dared to profane the sanctuary with their presence.

Sir Keith’s son, James Chase, begins looking into the strange deaths that have been occurring in the area. However, he meets a surprising amount of resistance, both mortal, and supernatural.

[Dr. Drib]

Got it.

Now for that kiss.....of the cobra.


Thank you!

[ZodWallop]

Thanks! Got it!

[ATDrake]

Now a repeat freebie if you happened to miss it earlier.