The Torch of Tangier

Lily Sampson #2

by Aileen G. Baron

Who would have guessed that an ancient excavation would end in a modern murder...? Under the pressure of war, heroes arise in unusual places. In Aileen Baron's The Torch of Tangier , the main character is not a brave soldier stolen from his home; on the contrary, she is an archeologist. World War II transformed Lily Sampson's job into a nightmare. She should be uncovering Neanderthal artifacts; instead she is stuck in Tangier with the rest of the team, awaiting clearance to dig from Franco's Guardia Civil But that doesn't stop Lily from working. Recruited into the OSS, Lily is quickly part of Operation Torch whose mission is to gain control of French Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, and to squash Rommel. And then, her work for her country's cause is interrupted by murder....

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Aileen Garsson Baron is retired from a distinguished career as professor of archaeology, where her research took her to many parts of the world, and numerous seasons of fieldwork in the Middle East. She taught for twenty years in the Departmant of Anthropology at California State University, Fullerton. Her many years of archaeological fieldwork in the Middle East include a year at the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem as an NEH scholar, and director of the overseas campus of the California State Universities at the Hebrew University.

She began writng mysteries after her retirement from CSUF. Her first two mysteries, A Fly Has a Hundred Eyes, and The Torch of Tangier, feature an American archaeologist, Lily Sampson, working in the Middle East in the 1930's and 40's. Her latest Mystery, The Gold of Thrace, a stand-alone, is a tale of danger and deceit in the antiquities trade.

Reviews

[Mary Nuttelman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second of the series that features archaeologist Lily Sampson. There wasn't much mystery in this outing. It took almost a third of the book to find out what Lily's task was. There was plenty of political intrigue, due to location--Tangier--and time frame, which was WWII, but not enough fiction or mystery to qualify as either. I will read the third installment, eventually, just to finish the series.

[Shaktis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok mystery.

[Brenda Hawley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series set in Pre World War II with its female archaeologist who encounters political problems and murder are fun reads. Interesting plots and settings.

[Jehnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting time and place, but the book could have used another round of edits. It was choppy.