by Fiona Davis
First published 2025
Charlotte Cross seizes her chance to join an archaeological dig in Egypt's Valley of the Kings in 1936. Tragedy forces her to abandon everything and flee to New York. Forty years later, she works quietly as associate curator in the Met's Egyptian Art Department, studying Hathorkare, a dismissed female pharaoh. Charlotte wants nothing to do with the upcoming Met Gala. Meanwhile, eighteen-year-old Annie Jenkins scrambles to meet the demanding expectations of Diana Vreeland, the former Vogue editor organizing the glamorous event. The night of the gala changes everything when a priceless Egyptian artifact vanishes from the collection. Strange signs suggest Hathorkare's ancient curse may be stirring. Charlotte and Annie form an unlikely partnership to track down the missing piece. Their search leads them back to Egypt, forcing Charlotte to face the demons that drove her away decades earlier. She must confront her buried past if they hope to recover the artifact and solve the mystery.
Genres: 20th-century, adventure, crime, archaeology, contemporary, 21st-century, art-history, academic
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, unlikely-partnership
Setting: Egypt, Met Museum, New York, Valley of the Kings
Period: 1936, 1970s
352 pages · Hardcover · Dutton