The Last King of Cairo

Cairo, spring 1937: jasmine, dust, and intrigue hang over a city where the young men in the cafés no longer lower their voices when the King's name is spoken. When a secret list of army officers vanishes from a locked dispatch box inside the royal palace, a celebrated detective and his loyal companion are summoned to Egypt by the British Residency for a matter everyone insists is "not political" — which, of course, means it is entirely political. Before they can recover the missing paper, the Controller of the Royal Household is found on the eastern terrace with a dagger in his breast and a message pinned above his heart. Among those circling the throne: an indolent young king who can feel his crown slipping, a beautiful and dangerous nightclub singer half the court is infatuated with, and a lean cavalry officer with the hungry face of a man who has stored away every humiliation. As the detective untangles the murder, he realises the killing is only the bell — and the real catastrophe is history itself, gathering in the streets beyond the palace gates. The Last King of Cairo is an original Golden Age-style mystery about power, loyalty, and a kingdom on the edge of revolution.