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The Masked Man of Cairo #4
The Case of the Karnak Killer
A scandal in America. A murder in Cairo.Sir Augustus Wall, antiquities dealer and amateur sleuth, is hired to track down a blackmailer who threatens the reputation of an American millionaire. When blackmail turns to murder, he must travel up the Nile by steamboat to find the killer.Joining him are Faisal, a street urchin who makes himself equally useful and troublesome; Heinrich Schäfer, a leading Egyptologist; and Jocelyn Montjoy, an adventurous woman who has captured his heart.But complications set in before the hunt even begins. Unwelcome fellow passengers threaten to derail the investigation, and Augustus has fallen out with his right-hand man, Moustafa Ghani.Can a new team of investigators help him solve his most challenging case yet?
363 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 3, 2020
160 people are currently reading
31 people want to read
About the author
Sean McLachlan
82 books104 followersSean McLachlan is a former archaeologist who worked for many years on excavations in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. Now a full-time writer, he specializes in fiction, history, and adventure travel. In 2013 he won the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award for his Iraq reportage.
Half of Sean's time is spent on the road researching and writing. He's traveled to more than 30 countries, interviewing nomads in Somaliland, climbing to clifftop monasteries in Ethiopia, studying Crusader castles in Syria, and exploring caves in his favorite state of Missouri.
Sean works in a number of genres, especially historical mystery and science fiction.
Sean is always happy to hear from his readers, so drop him a line via his blog!
Half of Sean's time is spent on the road researching and writing. He's traveled to more than 30 countries, interviewing nomads in Somaliland, climbing to clifftop monasteries in Ethiopia, studying Crusader castles in Syria, and exploring caves in his favorite state of Missouri.
Sean works in a number of genres, especially historical mystery and science fiction.
Sean is always happy to hear from his readers, so drop him a line via his blog!
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 30, 2024
-Probably the best so far of the books in this series taking place in Egypt after WWI. There’s a deadly opponent, a mystery to be solved, and a prediction that could only mean the death of one of the main characters. This is handled through great writing, as the author cycles through the separate dangers confronting each of characters.
-We start with a requested meeting with Sir Augustus Hall by the chief of police of Cairo, Sir Thomas Russel. There’s another man who meets up with them, who happens to be an American criminologist, Kent Lowell.
-It turned out that Lowell was sent to Egypt in the service of a very wealthy American, Mr. Charles Beechcroft. Mr. Beechcroft had come to Egypt before the war and had put his wife’s expensive jewelry along with $25,000 in cash in the hotel safe, only to find, one night, that the safe door had been opened and the safe emptied out. The combination was one set by the hotel guest, so the thief could only have gotten into the safe with the help of one of the family, who also knew the combination. There was only one suspect, a mesmerist and ladies man who called himself Alaeddin Bey. He was seen often with Beechcroft’s daughter, and it was believed that she had tipped off the mesmerist with the combination. Since he left a trail of money missing wherever he went, it was likely that he was the thief in this instance as well.
-There was another item in the safe, which Beechcroft wanted returned more than the money and jewels, which were certain papers that would prove very embarrassing to him if they were publicized.
-Though the case was appealing to Sir Augustus, it was the very high payment that Beechcroft was making for him to undertake the assignment that closed the deal.
-Lowell wanted to begin the investigation and asked Sir Augustus if Mustafa, Sir Augustus’ associate and right hand man, could accompany him as he felt he needed muscle, just in case. It turned out that Beechcroft had visited a prostitute and contracted a disease. The compromising letter was from a doctor who prescribed a medication, and it was that letter that was among the items stolen.
-Upon following what Beechcroft had described, Lowell led Mustafa to an area where European prostitutes would station themselves, which was very distasteful to Mustafa, as he was a devout Muslim. Mustafa waited outside until Lowell was done. But upon leaving the premises, there was a skirmish, and a number of local Egyptians rioted in the street following abuse leveled against them by foreigners, and, before Mustafa could do anything, a man appeared and stabbed Lowell in the chest, killing him. The mob tried to attack Mustafa, and he barely made it out before alerting the police, but Lowell couldn’t be saved.
-Nur, Mustafa’s wife, had a dream that 3 figures would depart on the next mission: Wall; Mustafa; and Faisal, the little thief who had attached himself to Wall, but she saw only two figures returning. She felt that if Mustafa left, he would not return. As a result, when Sir Augustus told Mustafa to arrange for the trip to catch Alaeddin Bey, he now said he had to think of his family and felt he had to quit his employment with Sir Augustus. Sir Augustus, now only joined by Faisal, Cordelia and her aunt, set out to catch a tourist ship going south to Luxor, upon which it was known that Alaeddin Bey would be on board. Luckily, they met up with Jocelyn who also joined them. She was a tough and independent woman who felt no embarrassment in wearing trousers and being as handy with a gun as any man, and who was introduced to us in a previous book.
-Mustafa, now working in a very safe job for a kindly man who ran a Coptic museum, felt guilty, but it was when he recalled that the man who stabbed Lowell wasn’t part of the mob, but had come out of an alley, that he realized that the murder of Lowell was planned. If this was so, then Sir Augustus was in more danger than he realized, and Mustafa started to investigate on his own, which led to his almost losing his life, but discovering that there was a foe that Sir Augustus was going to confront that was deadlier than any that they had come up against before.
-What follows is a series of tense episodes as Mustafa tries to reach Wall to warn him that it’s not Alaeddin Bey that he has to fear, but a group that is much deadlier.
-The dangers facing Mustafa as he investigates, and his attempts to reach Wall before danger erupts, fills the rest of the pages. Even the attempts to expose Alaeddin Bey result in unintended consequences to Wall, which causes his past actions to be resurrected in his mind. Cordelia also plays a major and needed role in this story, and was vital to the story line, though Wall always considered her a pest. There are major changes in store for each of the characters, with the possible clash in a future story of the deadly and powerful foe that we, the readers, now know exists.
-We start with a requested meeting with Sir Augustus Hall by the chief of police of Cairo, Sir Thomas Russel. There’s another man who meets up with them, who happens to be an American criminologist, Kent Lowell.
-It turned out that Lowell was sent to Egypt in the service of a very wealthy American, Mr. Charles Beechcroft. Mr. Beechcroft had come to Egypt before the war and had put his wife’s expensive jewelry along with $25,000 in cash in the hotel safe, only to find, one night, that the safe door had been opened and the safe emptied out. The combination was one set by the hotel guest, so the thief could only have gotten into the safe with the help of one of the family, who also knew the combination. There was only one suspect, a mesmerist and ladies man who called himself Alaeddin Bey. He was seen often with Beechcroft’s daughter, and it was believed that she had tipped off the mesmerist with the combination. Since he left a trail of money missing wherever he went, it was likely that he was the thief in this instance as well.
-There was another item in the safe, which Beechcroft wanted returned more than the money and jewels, which were certain papers that would prove very embarrassing to him if they were publicized.
-Though the case was appealing to Sir Augustus, it was the very high payment that Beechcroft was making for him to undertake the assignment that closed the deal.
-Lowell wanted to begin the investigation and asked Sir Augustus if Mustafa, Sir Augustus’ associate and right hand man, could accompany him as he felt he needed muscle, just in case. It turned out that Beechcroft had visited a prostitute and contracted a disease. The compromising letter was from a doctor who prescribed a medication, and it was that letter that was among the items stolen.
-Upon following what Beechcroft had described, Lowell led Mustafa to an area where European prostitutes would station themselves, which was very distasteful to Mustafa, as he was a devout Muslim. Mustafa waited outside until Lowell was done. But upon leaving the premises, there was a skirmish, and a number of local Egyptians rioted in the street following abuse leveled against them by foreigners, and, before Mustafa could do anything, a man appeared and stabbed Lowell in the chest, killing him. The mob tried to attack Mustafa, and he barely made it out before alerting the police, but Lowell couldn’t be saved.
-Nur, Mustafa’s wife, had a dream that 3 figures would depart on the next mission: Wall; Mustafa; and Faisal, the little thief who had attached himself to Wall, but she saw only two figures returning. She felt that if Mustafa left, he would not return. As a result, when Sir Augustus told Mustafa to arrange for the trip to catch Alaeddin Bey, he now said he had to think of his family and felt he had to quit his employment with Sir Augustus. Sir Augustus, now only joined by Faisal, Cordelia and her aunt, set out to catch a tourist ship going south to Luxor, upon which it was known that Alaeddin Bey would be on board. Luckily, they met up with Jocelyn who also joined them. She was a tough and independent woman who felt no embarrassment in wearing trousers and being as handy with a gun as any man, and who was introduced to us in a previous book.
-Mustafa, now working in a very safe job for a kindly man who ran a Coptic museum, felt guilty, but it was when he recalled that the man who stabbed Lowell wasn’t part of the mob, but had come out of an alley, that he realized that the murder of Lowell was planned. If this was so, then Sir Augustus was in more danger than he realized, and Mustafa started to investigate on his own, which led to his almost losing his life, but discovering that there was a foe that Sir Augustus was going to confront that was deadlier than any that they had come up against before.
-What follows is a series of tense episodes as Mustafa tries to reach Wall to warn him that it’s not Alaeddin Bey that he has to fear, but a group that is much deadlier.
-The dangers facing Mustafa as he investigates, and his attempts to reach Wall before danger erupts, fills the rest of the pages. Even the attempts to expose Alaeddin Bey result in unintended consequences to Wall, which causes his past actions to be resurrected in his mind. Cordelia also plays a major and needed role in this story, and was vital to the story line, though Wall always considered her a pest. There are major changes in store for each of the characters, with the possible clash in a future story of the deadly and powerful foe that we, the readers, now know exists.
January 12, 2021
Each of the 4 books in this series are wonderful. As I said in my first review, I fell in love with the street urchin Faisel and he continues to be the main character in each novel. Book 4 brings the series to an excellent climax. Having visited Luxor and Karnak, reading this book took me back to the grandeur of the area. Very engrossing and lots of fun!
Well researched and written - McLachlan has a love for Egypt and its history. Highly recommend the entire series.
Well researched and written - McLachlan has a love for Egypt and its history. Highly recommend the entire series.
April 11, 2023
A little sappy
I feel like the ending was rushed again. And it was more for the development with Faisal. Moustafa had the better mystery but I have started to skip over all the significantly graphic. I hope the bookstore does well and all the adventure doesn’t damage it.
I feel like the ending was rushed again. And it was more for the development with Faisal. Moustafa had the better mystery but I have started to skip over all the significantly graphic. I hope the bookstore does well and all the adventure doesn’t damage it.
January 8, 2023
Too violent and graphic for me
After an excellent third book, McLachian seeming is of the believe that he needs to serve up a work quite different.
Not for me.
After an excellent third book, McLachian seeming is of the believe that he needs to serve up a work quite different.
Not for me.
January 8, 2025
Brilliant book, brilliant series
September 21, 2025
Winter 1919 Wall is hired to find the blackmailer of American Charles Beechcroft, after his original detective is murdered. This leads to the boat Arabia and a journey to Luxor. But who are the real enemies.
An entertaining historical mystery with its likeable characters
An entertaining historical mystery with its likeable characters
September 19, 2020
My second favorite in the series after The Case of the Golden Greeks. I am looking forward to the next installment. I hope we continue to see more of the reoccurring characters from the previous books.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews