Academics as Sleuths

Mystery to Me & Soho Crime webinar, on Crowdcast. RSVP for link.

media release: Featuring Maha Khan Phillips + Zoe B. Wallbrook

https://www.crowdcast.io/c/academics-as-sleuths-

April 30 at 12pm CT / 1pm ET

Archaeologist Dr. Gul Delani and newly minted junior professor Daphne Ouverture aren't your typical magnifying-glass-carrying sleuths, but their academic backgrounds make them the best ones for the job in two upcoming books from Soho Crime. Join authors Maha Khan Phillips (The Museum Detective) and Zoe B. Wallbrook (History Lessons) for an in-depth conversation about academics as sleuths. 

RSVP and attend the event live for a chance to win a Mystery To Me gift card!

Inspired by a real-life antiquities scandal in Pakistan, this gripping series debut introduces archaeologist Dr. Gul Delani, whose investigation into the discovery of a mummy gets complicated--and personal--when it collides with her years-long search for a missing family member. Perfect for fans of Sue Grafton and Elsa Hart.

When Dr. Gul Delani receives a call in the middle of the night from the Sindh police, she thinks they may have finally found her niece, Mahnaz--a precocious, politically conscious teenage girl who went missing three years prior. Gul has been racked with grief since Mahnaz's disappearance and distracts herself through work: a talented curator at the Museum of Heritage and History in Karachi, she is one of the country's leading experts in archaeology and ancient civilizations, a hard-won position for a woman.

But there is no news of Mahnaz. Instead, Gul is summoned to a narcotics investigation in a remote desert region in western Pakistan. In her wildest dreams, Gul couldn't have imagined what she'd find there: amid a drug bust gone wrong, there is a mummy--life-size, seemingly authentic, its sarcophagus decorated with symbols from Persepolis, the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. The discovery confounds everyone. It is both too good to be true, and for Gul, too precious to leave in careless or corrupt hands.

Aided by her team of unlikely misfits, Gul will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of it, even as her quest for the truth puts her in the throes of a dangerous conspiracy and threatens to collide with her ongoing search for Mahnaz. A portrait of a city fueled by corruption and a woman relentlessly in pursuit of justice, The Museum Detective is an exciting, gritty new crime thriller that announces a whip-smart and brilliant sleuth and builds to a stunning, emotional conclusion that readers won't soon forget.

A college history professor must solve her superstar colleague's murder before she becomes the next target in this funny, romantic debut mystery, perfect for readers of Janet Evanovich, Kellye Garrett, and Ali Hazelwood.

As a newly minted junior professor, Daphne Ouverture spends her days giving lectures on French colonialism, writing her first academic book, and going on atrocious dates. Her small world suits her just fine. Until Sam Taylor dies.

The rising star of Harrison University's anthropology department was never one of Daphne's favorites, despite his popularity. But that doesn't prevent Sam's killer from believing Daphne has something that belonged to Sam--something the killer will stop at nothing to get.

Between grading papers and navigating her disastrous love life, Daphne embarks on an investigation to find out what connects her to Sam's murder. With the help of an alluring former-detective-turned-bookseller, she unravels a deadly cover-up on campus. This well-crafted, voice-driven mystery introduces an unforgettable crime fiction heroine readers will root for.