The Hidden
Egyptian-history buffs will love this complex story, set in 1940 Cairo, of love, betrayal, and political machinations. A young professor is murdered, and his wife, Aimee, is determined to find out why. Upon cleaning out her husband’s desk at the university, she finds her mother’s diary. Aimee never knew her mother and can’t understand why her husband had the diary. Aimee’s mother, we learn, as the story moves back and forth between the 1940 murder and 1919, the period covered in the diary, was the daughter of Egyptian royalty, forced into an arranged marriage when she was 11 years old. Meanwhile, in the present, there is a political uprising planned to overthrow King Faruk, and spies are everywhere. Both mother and daughter experience violence and political unrest in their lives, as well as love, and their intertwining stories make fascinating reading. Fans of Elizabeth Peters and Wilbur Smith will find much to enjoy here. This novel won the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award in the Mystery/Thriller category.