THE MUSEUM DETECTIVE

The city of Karachi turns out to be a hotbed of criminal activity in this series opener.

When Pakistani museum curator and Egyptologist Gulfsa Delani receives an urgent phone call in the middle of the night from Deputy Superintendent Farhan Akthar, she assumes he has news about her niece, Mahnaz, who’s been missing for three years but is never far from her thoughts. Instead, she’s escorted to the site of a drug bust, which incongruously includes an ornately carved wooden sarcophagus with a female mummy inside. Gul is excited by the prospect of examining the artifact further in private, and she insists that only by taking the mummy to the museum will she be able to keep the valuable artifact—and piece of evidence in the drug case—from deteriorating. Acknowledging its value, Akthar provides her with a police escort to protect her from the criminals he’s sure will try to get it back. Gul’s examination of the sarcophagus and its contents involve analysis of the accompanying cuneiform writing and consultation with several experts. Not long after, Gul is indeed attacked and lands in the hospital, and the sarcophagus is stolen. In this first installment in a new series, Phillips spends considerable time presenting a full picture of her heroine’s life and of Karachi’s notable features. Gul teaches English at a homeless shelter run by her friend Manora Fernandes and has a contentious relationship with her brother and sister-in-law, Bilal and Sania. Readers are taken to Parsi Colony, a Zoroastrian enclave; the picturesque Cantt railway station; and City Central University. Phillips, who lives in London, was born in Karachi and her attachment to the city is infectious. At length, she offers surprising solutions to both the theft of the sarcophagus and the disappearance of Gul’s niece.

A deep dive into a fascinating city complete with multiple menacing mysteries.