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The Masked Man of Cairo #3
The Case of the Golden Greeks
They thought the case was solved.
When an eminent Egyptologist is murdered giving a lecture in front of a packed hall, Cairo’s chief of police quickly rounds up those responsible.Or at least some of them.
Sir Augustus Wall, antiquities dealer and amateur sleuth, knows there’s more to the crime than it seems. With little to go on but an exotic murder weapon, a map of a desert oasis, and some gilded Greek mummies, he sets out across the Sahara with his assistant Moustafa Ghani and the street urchin Faisal, who is the only person to have seen the killer’s face. They soon find themselves in the midst of international intrigue on Egypt’s remote border with Libya.
Can they discover what mystery lies beneath Bahariya Oasis?
When an eminent Egyptologist is murdered giving a lecture in front of a packed hall, Cairo’s chief of police quickly rounds up those responsible.Or at least some of them.
Sir Augustus Wall, antiquities dealer and amateur sleuth, knows there’s more to the crime than it seems. With little to go on but an exotic murder weapon, a map of a desert oasis, and some gilded Greek mummies, he sets out across the Sahara with his assistant Moustafa Ghani and the street urchin Faisal, who is the only person to have seen the killer’s face. They soon find themselves in the midst of international intrigue on Egypt’s remote border with Libya.
Can they discover what mystery lies beneath Bahariya Oasis?
330 pages, Paperback
Published December 11, 2019
202 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Sean McLachlan
81 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 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 21, 2020
The best of this series
I have enjoyed all three books in this series; however, this was the best of the three. This book contained a lot action scenes than the first two books.
I have enjoyed all three books in this series; however, this was the best of the three. This book contained a lot action scenes than the first two books.
January 7, 2020
This was Augustus at his finest. So much action...and even a bit of romance. Faisal is so dear. I love seeing his maturation...and a "brother" for him. I enjoyed this adventure and hope for a further addition to the series. Definitely a worthy read.
May 8, 2023
-In this 3rd novel about the exploits of Sir Augustus Wall which takes place shortly after The Great War (WWI) ended, rather than focusing on Wall, much attention is given to his employee, Mustafa, the highly intelligent Sudanese, as well the resourceful beggar boy Faisal.
-Mustafa, along with Wall, who was accompanied by the beautiful antiquities dealer, Zehra Hanzade, were attending a lecture given by a Professor Harrell. The Professor had been investigating a temple area left by the Greeks, after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great. While the three of them were sitting near the front stage in the audience, they witnessed the Professor being killed by a man using a blow dart tube. Though they immediately chased the man through the back of the stage, he eludes them.
-Wall is summoned by the head British authority who controls that district, Sir Thomas Russel Pasha. There had been an ongoing investigation into certain groups who had claimed to be collecting funds to conduct expeditions, but the vast majority of those were suspect and believed by Sir Russel to have been fraudulent and concealing some other activity. The expedition carried out by Professor Harrell was one of the few that was sponsored by that group which produced concrete results. To Sir Russel’s chagrin, Professor Harrell had contacted Sir Russel and requested a meeting which was to have taken place the morning after his murder. That made Sir Russel believe that the Professor had come across something in the ruins that exposed the scheme.
-Since Sir Russel knew that Wall would not let this murder go without conducting his own investigation, Sir Russel decided that it would be prudent to enlist Wall’s help. Caravans would go to that area known as the Bahariya Oasis, but at this point in time, all caravans had already completed their trip. Wall enlisted Mustafa to search out a group who would be willing to take them to that area, under the pretense that they wanted to investigate that area as soon as possible, in light of Professor Harrell’s discoveries.
-The author then combines actual history, which he bends slightly, as they travel the 10 day trip in a desert in which severe sandstorms are common, and available water is not. They go through dealing with thievery by their guides, but Wall experiences other, more severe problems. When they finally reach the oasis, they meet up with troops stationed there by the British government. Through Faisal and Mustafa, the pieces fall into place as to what Professor Harrell wanted to reveal, and it puts the whole group into a great deal of danger, where it’s highly likely that they would lose their lives.
-But it’s the thinking of the two people closest to Wall that are highlighted most here. Mustafa, who desperately wants to be acknowledged one day for his scholarship, as he’s been writing papers under an assumed name on Egyptian artifacts, is hurt by something that Wall blurts out because of his addiction to opium. Mustafa knows that he will always be a servant in the eyes of the Europeans and would never attain the status of an equal until the people of Egypt throw off their European masters. Faisal, on the other hand, is also exposed to the rough side of Sir Wall, but in his case, he truly feels that Sir Wall has only meant well for him and will continue to do so, and longs for Wall’s approval.
-In previous books in the series, Wall knows that because of his disfigurement, any romantic ideas that he could have must be shelved, as, without his mask, his face is horrible to look at. But the only weak spot in the book is Wall’s reaction to being with a British woman who has struck on her own to do her own research in the oasis, after the death of her own husband. He acts too much like a schoolboy with his first crush, and he seems out of character with his other qualities. It also seems strange that Sir Russel would only send Wall to investigate, being that, according to Sir Russel, an investigation into the possible fraudulent activity has been going on under his authority for months.
-Apart from those inconsistencies, it’s still a good part of the series, especially for the way the author delves into the psyche of both Mustafa and Faisal in this book.
-Mustafa, along with Wall, who was accompanied by the beautiful antiquities dealer, Zehra Hanzade, were attending a lecture given by a Professor Harrell. The Professor had been investigating a temple area left by the Greeks, after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great. While the three of them were sitting near the front stage in the audience, they witnessed the Professor being killed by a man using a blow dart tube. Though they immediately chased the man through the back of the stage, he eludes them.
-Wall is summoned by the head British authority who controls that district, Sir Thomas Russel Pasha. There had been an ongoing investigation into certain groups who had claimed to be collecting funds to conduct expeditions, but the vast majority of those were suspect and believed by Sir Russel to have been fraudulent and concealing some other activity. The expedition carried out by Professor Harrell was one of the few that was sponsored by that group which produced concrete results. To Sir Russel’s chagrin, Professor Harrell had contacted Sir Russel and requested a meeting which was to have taken place the morning after his murder. That made Sir Russel believe that the Professor had come across something in the ruins that exposed the scheme.
-Since Sir Russel knew that Wall would not let this murder go without conducting his own investigation, Sir Russel decided that it would be prudent to enlist Wall’s help. Caravans would go to that area known as the Bahariya Oasis, but at this point in time, all caravans had already completed their trip. Wall enlisted Mustafa to search out a group who would be willing to take them to that area, under the pretense that they wanted to investigate that area as soon as possible, in light of Professor Harrell’s discoveries.
-The author then combines actual history, which he bends slightly, as they travel the 10 day trip in a desert in which severe sandstorms are common, and available water is not. They go through dealing with thievery by their guides, but Wall experiences other, more severe problems. When they finally reach the oasis, they meet up with troops stationed there by the British government. Through Faisal and Mustafa, the pieces fall into place as to what Professor Harrell wanted to reveal, and it puts the whole group into a great deal of danger, where it’s highly likely that they would lose their lives.
-But it’s the thinking of the two people closest to Wall that are highlighted most here. Mustafa, who desperately wants to be acknowledged one day for his scholarship, as he’s been writing papers under an assumed name on Egyptian artifacts, is hurt by something that Wall blurts out because of his addiction to opium. Mustafa knows that he will always be a servant in the eyes of the Europeans and would never attain the status of an equal until the people of Egypt throw off their European masters. Faisal, on the other hand, is also exposed to the rough side of Sir Wall, but in his case, he truly feels that Sir Wall has only meant well for him and will continue to do so, and longs for Wall’s approval.
-In previous books in the series, Wall knows that because of his disfigurement, any romantic ideas that he could have must be shelved, as, without his mask, his face is horrible to look at. But the only weak spot in the book is Wall’s reaction to being with a British woman who has struck on her own to do her own research in the oasis, after the death of her own husband. He acts too much like a schoolboy with his first crush, and he seems out of character with his other qualities. It also seems strange that Sir Russel would only send Wall to investigate, being that, according to Sir Russel, an investigation into the possible fraudulent activity has been going on under his authority for months.
-Apart from those inconsistencies, it’s still a good part of the series, especially for the way the author delves into the psyche of both Mustafa and Faisal in this book.
March 6, 2023
What fun books to read with non-stop action and adventure in 1919 Cairo, Egypt. Our hero, Englishman Sir Augustus Wall, while surviving the trenches of WWI, has had half his face blown off and now wears half a mask. While his outer injuries are severe, his inner mental turmoils are greater. When he arrives in Egypt (Book 1), he sets up an antiquities business; hires a strong and intelligent Nubian; Moustafa, to help run his shop; and then attracts an unlikely street urchin, Faisal, who attaches himself to the “silly Englishman.” Humor and trouble are liberally distributed throughout these stories. In this Book 3, I have loved the tremendous character development in Faisal and the fascinating desert travel and time spent at the Bahariya Oasis.
These books are well-researched, use accurate historical background, and great plot development. While I have rated this book and the ones prior to it as “4’s,” they all have one glaring flaw. As I read along in kindle edition format, it seems as though the “real editor/typist/proofreader” steps away and takes a bathroom or smoke break, because then comes, a bumpy patch of paragraphs with misplaced words, typos and the like—for instance, two-letter-words such as “to,” “or,” “on,” “in,” etc) are jumbled around causing sentences to make no sense. Then the “real editor/typist/proofreader” returns and the book proceeds for awhile unless the “real editor/typist/proofreader” requires another break. Perhaps, the djinn are causing these bumpy patches?
These books are well-researched, use accurate historical background, and great plot development. While I have rated this book and the ones prior to it as “4’s,” they all have one glaring flaw. As I read along in kindle edition format, it seems as though the “real editor/typist/proofreader” steps away and takes a bathroom or smoke break, because then comes, a bumpy patch of paragraphs with misplaced words, typos and the like—for instance, two-letter-words such as “to,” “or,” “on,” “in,” etc) are jumbled around causing sentences to make no sense. Then the “real editor/typist/proofreader” returns and the book proceeds for awhile unless the “real editor/typist/proofreader” requires another break. Perhaps, the djinn are causing these bumpy patches?
March 8, 2022
I think this is my favorite book in this series so far. McLachlan really increases the stakes in this mystery - much more dangerous than just a robbery or a street gang. He also puts considerable development into some of the characters, making them truly endearing to the reader.
And the final touch? Maybe the titular masked man has finally found a love interest worthy of his attention...
And the final touch? Maybe the titular masked man has finally found a love interest worthy of his attention...
April 7, 2023
A weak ending
This book focused on Moustafa and Faisal primarily. A lot of character development. Mr. Wall was just violence and addiction. He “solved” the mystery but the solution was vague and unconvincing. These books do make me want to read more about the British leaving Egypt though.
This book focused on Moustafa and Faisal primarily. A lot of character development. Mr. Wall was just violence and addiction. He “solved” the mystery but the solution was vague and unconvincing. These books do make me want to read more about the British leaving Egypt though.
March 31, 2022
Book 3
Best book in the series so far. Great storyline, new characters. Informative, funny and a decent mystery as well
The boy named Faisal as annoying as ever, but he's starting to grow on his companions and me as well.
Best book in the series so far. Great storyline, new characters. Informative, funny and a decent mystery as well
The boy named Faisal as annoying as ever, but he's starting to grow on his companions and me as well.
May 26, 2020
Excellent
Excellent period Mystery! One of those books you hate to put down. It draws you right into the story. The first two in the series are exciting too. Hope it continues.
Excellent period Mystery! One of those books you hate to put down. It draws you right into the story. The first two in the series are exciting too. Hope it continues.
December 20, 2022
This was my favorite book in the series to date. I'm looking forward to continuing the series.
December 9, 2024
This series is getting better and better! This is book 3. Loved it! I usually only do audiobooks, but this is worth making an exception for. For lovers of swashbucklers.
January 8, 2025
Really enjoyed this bool and the series of 6 to date. Complex characters, interesting storyline and great historical and cultural perspective.
January 20, 2024
The best one of this series so far, a bit more pulpy, a little more action, a bit more Beau Geste.
August 28, 2025
Autumn 1919. It all starts when an eminent Egyptologist is killed at the end of his lecture to the Geographical Association of Egypt. Little do they know what trouble Augustus Wall and his associates will met when they investigate.
An entertaining historical mystery
An entertaining historical mystery
June 20, 2021
My favorite book in the series so far.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews