Although I was fascinated by the archaeology and the history contained in The Museum Detective, it really wasn't my cup of tea. With the current political turmoil here and abroad, I find myself having little patience with the restrictive lifestyles of more traditional Muslim women, and that is what Dr. Gul Delani has dealt with most of her life. It's been tremendously difficult for her to work her way up into her position at the museum in Karachi. Moreover, I wondered why she was still so determined to find her niece and why her parents seemed eager to write the girl off.

The angst piled higher and higher as the story veered from archaeology and history to drugs, the illegal antiquities trade, corrupt police, and other people in power who couldn't be trusted. Perhaps if I had been in a different mood, I would've enjoyed this book more, but I didn't. I just couldn't warm to Delani or care about her search for her niece.

Her troubles start with a call in the middle of the night

Dr. Gul Delani is an archaeologist, an experienced Egyptologist who returned to her native Pakistan years earlier and now works at the Heritage and History Museum in Karachi as a curator. It is a position she worked hard to obtain, having to overcome the systemic prejudices against a woman doing work in that field inherent in her country. When she receives a phone call from a police detective at 3 am and is asked to come immediately t0 a crime scene, her first thought is that her niece Mahnaz, who disappeared without a trace three years earlier, has at last been found. Instead she is taken to the badlands of Balochistan where there has been a shootout between the police and a criminal gang, a drug bust gone horribly wrong. When Detective Superintendent of Police Akthar takes her into the caves where the criminals had been located, she sees the reason for her having been summoned...a wooden sarcophagus, covered with cuneiform script that contains what appears to be a mummy with a gold mask and breastplate. If it proves to be authentic it would not only be the first Persian mummy ever found, it would be worth untold millions to collectors. Gul is eager to analyze the remains, wanting to either prove it to be a hoax (which is more likely) or genuine (which would make her career and those of her team). Why would a Baloch drug baron, universally feared and known only as Saayaa (shadow) have a mummy? He clearly wants it back, as two corrupt police officers will snatch it from the museum almost as soon as Gul gets possession of it. There are also indications that her missing niece may have a connection to the mummy and/or Saayaa, which given the emotional distress that Gul still experiences over Mahnaz's absence leaves her unable to stop pursuing the truth. She will have to fight corruption within the police and government, the fractured relationship she has with her brother Bilal and his wife Sania, competitive co-workers with political allies and more in order to discover what is going on and who is behind it all....and it may cost her everything, including her life, to do so.
What a fascinating backdrop and protagonist exist within the pages of The Museum Detective! Gul is a distinctive figure, a strong and intelligent woman who comes from a wealthy enough family to be able to afford to pursue the profession for which she has great passion. She has had a rocky relationship with her brother and sister-in-law (they don't much approve of what she does or how she conducts herself publicly), and even before Mahnaz disappeared there were periods of time when she was denied access to the niece to whom she was so close. She has assembled her own offbeat group of people who have become like a family, her two assistants Hamza and Rana, the intimidatingly efficient Mrs. Fernandez whose sharp tongue hides a loving heart, the people at the shelter for street kids where she volunteers (especially an older teen named Ejaz), and her British friend and colleague Harry Gilbert who is as excited about the possible new discovery as Gul is. The city of Karachi itself, from its dirty and often violent streets to the elegant grand homes of the wealthy, is also a well-rendered character within the story. There is plenty of archaeological detail and lore woven in to the plot, not so much as to bog down the story but enough to add dimension to it. In reading the author's notes in the end I was intrigued to find out that the tale is based on a real-life event, and that added to my enjoyment as well. If you ever had a period when you thought that archaeology was an interesting possible career choice (I did in my teens, I confess), are interested in a view of the Pakistani culture, or enjoy authors like Mailan Doquang, Barbara Nadel or Elly Griffith, then I encourage you most strongly to add The Museum Detective to your TBR list/pile. It would appear that this is the first in a projected series, and while it was not without flaws ( I would rate it 4.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 5) I can't wait to see what awaits Gul and her team in future novels. My thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press/Soho Crime for allowing me an early peek at this engrossing tale in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Museum Detective.

I love how the premise was inspired by a real-life antiquities scandal in Pakistan.

Egyptology is fascinating and I learned a lot about the process of mummification from the main character, archaeologist Dr. Gul Delani.

The plot is interwoven with Dr. Gul's niece who disappeared three years ago and whose unknown whereabouts has caused further complications with her estranged brother and sister-in-law.

There are betrayals, secrets are revealed, corruption, and unsavory and cowardly men are exposed, but Dr. Gul has some great allies, her bright students, a formidable neighbor, and the only incorrupt detective on the force who has her back.

I liked the plot and Dr. Gul is a well developed character, but I didn't like her much. I actually liked the supporting characters better.

Despite her upbringing and the painful choices she has made in her personal life, I found her incredibly naive.

Even after everything that happened, exposing corruption within the police force and in her own family, she still believed the authorities would have located her niece, protected her and the antiquity.

She lives in a country rife with poverty, corruption, and danger and believes playing by the rules will ensure her safety and good will prevail?

Is she optimistic or just foolish? Her sister-in-law possesses more street smarts than Dr. Gul.

The writing style took some getting used to; info dumping would occur midway through a chapter when a new character was introduced and the author wanted to explain this character's relationship to Dr. Gul.

It threw off the pacing of the narrative and distracted the main focus of the story.

I'm always interested in a series led by a female character and look forward to the next book in the series.

The Museum Detective is a very fun Dan Brown-esque thriller. Dr. Gul Delani has spent her whole life fighting, fighting to get access to an education, fighting to get her backwards, misogynistic colleagues in Pakistan to give her resources fighting to get the well meaning but racist westerners to take her seriously. Through grit and sharp elbows she’s managed to carve out a space for herself in the Museum of Heritage and History in Karachi, and despite personal tragedy in the form of the disappearance of her niece Mahnaz, she’s found a place for herself.

Then one day she gets a call from a narcotics officer who has found a mummy. This is the beginning of a mystery that will push Dr. Delani to her personal and professional limits. This is a page turner of a book, and the kicker is it’s based on a true story! Honestly, the biggest plot twist for me was when I turned to the Author’s Note and found that out. My jaw just about hit the floor. I was absolutely in love with Dr. Delani and her niece (who we get to know in flashbacks), as well as the other characters.

This book definitely had some debut moments, for example, the pacing got a little whacky in the middle, and sometimes it forgets that it is a thriller and it swerves a little too long into the literary weeds. But a very fun read, and I will eagerly await the author’s next book.

I received an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Maha Khan Phillips' The Museum Detective offers the sort of mystery read that challenges, informs, and surprises. The plotting is solid, we gradually learn more about characters as the action progresses, we also learn something about the history of archaeology and the breadth of life in present-day Pakistan. I haven't read a lot of novels set in Pakistan, but the ones I've read tend to focus on a fairly narrow community and present that as "what Pakistan is like." Phillips prevents that kind of narrow thinking by developing a variety of characters with a range of personal values and lived experiences. I didn't leave it feeling like I "understood Pakistan," but I did leave it feeling I'd seen a broader range of possible Pakistani lives than other books have allowed me to do.

Read this book for the plotting alone if you're a mystery fan. Read it if you like mysteries that give you something beyond plot: a sense of the kind of lives lived in places you don't personally know.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher; the opinions are my own.

I really hope this becomes a series -- Gul was such an interesting character and provided a perspective that was unique. I love love loved the premise and setting of this book. Definitely an exciting read. Give it a try!!

The Museum Detective comes out next week on April 1, 2025, and you can purchase HERE!

Both Hamza and Rana looked stunned, their eyes barely leaving the mummy. Gul could hardly blame them. This was the most exciting thing that would probably ever happen in any of their careers. This was it, the moment every archaeologist would die to have. To be the first, to discover something new, to change the way history was viewed. Hamza and Rana had already done more in their fields than she could have ever hoped for, producing stunning research and presenting their work internationally. They were building a name for themselves, and yet, nothing could have prepared them for this.

Thank you to Net Galley and Soho Press Publishing for an early copy of The Museum Detective by Maha Khan Phillips

The Museum Detective offers an intriguing look at crime in the world of ancient artifacts, government corruption and family dysfunction all taking place in Karachi, Pakistan. Museum curator Gulfsa Delani (Gul) is contacted when during a drug raid a sarcophagus is discovered that may lead to the ancient Egyptian Lost Princess Arturis.

Deception and murder rule as Gul not only works tirelessly to authenticate the mummy but must also deal with the disappearance of her teenage niece, missing three years and feared dead. When these two factors in Gul's life merge, it will take all of her wits and intelligence to get to the truth.
Her own family is not immune to the temptation for riches.

Maya Khan Phillips has based this intricate novel on the real-life event in Pakistan featuring a supposed ancient artifact needing verification. Readers will be turning the pages at a rapid rate as Gul puts the puzzle pieces together and receives news of her niece that may lead to a follow-up novel. Here's hoping!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/215808119
Soho is reliable for taking us across borders and immersing us in the culture & history of different nations (Pakistan in this case), all embedded within compelling crime novels. The Museum Detective has a complex plot that first grounds you in archaeology and in South Asian history, then delves into the Pakistani underworld. The thread that runs through the twists if the plot is Gul’s quest to resolve the mystery of her niece’s disappearance. The world of archaeological crime and fraud is harrowingly described, with staggering amounts of money at stake. Good resolution. Great last two lines!

What i really liked about this is the authentic-seeming portrayal of what Gul, the archaeologist goes through to pursue her profession as archaeologist - and how she deals with police as they try to ascertain what a mummy i doing at a smugglers’ crime scene - we learn a great deal about mummies and how they are preserved (or not) and the ways of chasing down what it is - its mysterious appearance has Gul, a top flight practitioner deploying all her skills, and also how she out manoeuvres all the male strictures of her country to get around, and to progress. Really find .. maybe a bit over-written …??

Gulfsa Delani is puzzled, and annoyed, when a Karachi police detective calls her in the middle of the night and insists that she accompanies him to the scene of a drug bust in a distant cave. When she gets there, she understands why he called her. Inside is an Egyptian sarcophagus with a perfectly preserved mummy. What makes it even more special is that the mummy appears to be of a Persian royal princess, the first ever found.
Dr. Delani is a curator at the Karachi Museum of Heritage and History, and she has years of experience in Egyptology. The police chief is reluctant to release the mummy to her, but she convinces him she is the only one who can study and preserve the delicate body. It soon becomes apparent that others very much want the royal lady. Some are even willing to kill anyone who tries to stop them.
While Gul tries to study and preserve her princess, she has to deal with a myriad of stressful situations. They include having to fight for her career in a male dominant field, looking for her missing and beloved niece, protecting a vulnerable child, and staying alive.
The author provides an intriguing look into the Pakistani culture, including the good, the bad, and the ugly, through the eyes of a strong and resourceful protagonist. The mystery has plenty of twists and turns, with the tension building to an explosive ending. Highly recommended.

An amazing book! I couldn't put it down! This amazing blend of political thriller, spy novel, archeological investigation, and missing persons case blew me away. I was hooked from the first page, and my interest never waned for the briefest moment. Phillips has done a masterful job and carefully doling out clues and action sequences. The pacing was perfect. And could this be the beginning of a series? I hope so!

A drug ring, artifact smuggling, missing people, and old legends; this twisty mystery has it all. Dr. Gul Delani is called late one night to lend her expertise as an Egyptologist when the police find a mummy among a drug lord's stash. As she begins to research the mummy, potentially an ancient Persian princess, it brings up her feelings of grief surrounding the disappearance of her beloved niece, Mahnaz, three years prior. With the help of her friends, she attempts to discover the truth about what is going on, while making her a target of the drug lord and his conspirators in this gritty story.
I enjoyed learning more about Pakistan as well as the history of mummification as well. Very well written and informative.

Inspired by a real life event, an archaeologist is called in to examine a mummy found during a drug raid in Pakistan and soon realizes the investigation is personal.

When a mummy is found during a shootout with local drug dealers, museum Egyptologist Dr. Gul Delani is called to the grisly scene. As Gul battles with forces within the police department and within her own museum over possession of this intriguing mummy, questions about its authenticity arise. And the web around the mummy begins to encircle Gul’s life, putting her in danger. Unsure who she can trust, Gul also struggles with her own personal trauma, the disappearance of her beloved niece, which already had brought her near mental collapse. Desperate to find answers both about the mummy and about her niece, Gul begins investigating on her own, despite warnings to stop.

Khan Phillips has written a heart-stopping, richly detailed thriller, featuring a strong female protagonist with secrets of her own. I sincerely hope this is the beginning of a series featuring Dr. Gul Delani.

Thank you to NetGalley and Soho Crime for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

Maha Khan Phillips’ The Museum Detective is an intriguing mix of mystery, archaeology, and personal loss. The story follows Dr. Gul Delani, an archaeologist and curator in Karachi, who is unexpectedly called to a remote desert site. She hopes the police have found a lead on her missing niece, Mahnaz, but instead, she’s faced with something just as shocking—a mysterious mummy with markings from the Achaemenid Empire. As she digs deeper, she finds herself caught in a dangerous conspiracy that threatens to derail both her investigation and her personal search for answers.

The premise is fascinating, and the book has some great twists that kept me engaged. Gul is a strong, determined character, and I really enjoyed following her journey. That said, some of the side characters fell a little flat. Sania didn’t seem to have much personality until the very end, and Balil—well, he felt like a bit of a clueless fool, getting himself into massive debt without ever realizing his “friend” was a fraud.

Overall, this was an interesting and unique story with some unexpected surprises along the way. If you enjoy mysteries with a historical twist, it’s definitely worth a read!

“On thinking about Hell, I gather my brother Shelley found it was a place much like the city of London. I, who live in Los Angeles and not in London, find, on thinking about Hell, that it must be still more like Los Angeles.”
–Bertolt Brecht

Dr. Gul Delani is the curator of the Heritage and History Museum in Karachi, Pakistan. When she is awakened one night by a call from the police, asking her to travel from her home in the capital to a remote desert area for an unspecified reason, she is not exactly pleased. But it’s the police, and it is not in her nature to refuse such a request.

However, what she finds upon arriving at the site astounds her: during a bungled drug raid, the police have discovered, hidden in a cave, an ancient life-sized mummy, complete with a decorated sarcophagus. From a brief inspection, Gul believes the items are most likely authentic, but she urgently needs to secure them and move them to a controlled environment where she can verify her initial assessment.

We soon learn that Gul has traveled a difficult road to reach her current position at the museum. Born into a wealthy family—her father founded the country’s first homegrown financial institution—she was determined to pursue her studies and build a career of her own. But her conservative parents had a different plan, one involving marriage, children, and a life of subservience. Gul found a way to achieve her ambitions, but the path was far from easy. Now, following her father’s death, the family business is run by her brother, Bilal—a shrewd financier with whom Gul fell out some time ago. Their estrangement, however, is overshadowed by the disappearance of Bilal’s daughter, Mahnaz, a sharp and witty young woman with whom Gul had formed a close bond. Despite extensive searching, Mahnaz’s whereabouts remain unknown.

After securing the mummy and sarcophagus, Gul assembles a small team to fully assess this extraordinary find. Could it really be, as the symbols on the ancient sarcophagus suggest, over two thousand years old and linked to Persepolis, the capital of the Achaemenid Empire? Her work is quickly hindered—first by the unwanted interference of a well-connected male colleague at the museum, and then by a ruthless drug lord determined to steal the artifacts back. It is far from certain that Gul will be allowed to complete her examination.

This novel delivers plenty of mystery and adventure, with intricate puzzles waiting to be unraveled. The fast-paced narrative is driven by compelling characters, particularly the intelligent and determined Gul. But beyond the action, the book also offers a vivid portrait of modern-day Pakistan—especially Karachi, a city shaped by relationships, networks, and deeply ingrained hierarchies. It highlights the challenges of being a career-driven woman in a society that often resists change. Once a cosmopolitan haven for minorities and those fleeing persecution, Karachi, as some now claim, has changed.

If you’re looking for a novel that delivers both a thrilling story and insightful social commentary, this one will certainly fit the bill.

The Museum Detective bundles together a compelling murder mystery with insights into the modern Pakistani world – truth telling and exploration of challenging societal issues – which makes it feel fresh. Featuring a protagonist who faces conflict in her personal and professional lives and other memorable characters (some good, some toxic), it is highly enjoyable, and at times, emotional. Recommended read, particularly for fans of the Dr Pimms, Intermillennial Sleuth series, by LJM Owen. 4.0-4.5 stars

Long a fan of Soho Crime for its international mysteries, I was thrilled to be approved for a NetGalley preview of The Museum Detective. What a fast compulsive read! I loved it for the writing, strong characters, wonderfully described setting, and - of course - the archaeology, history and mythology. I would definitely read more about Gul and her exploits if this became a series. A great pick for fans of Vaseem Khan's Malabar House mysteries, Nev March, and of Lyn Hamilton or Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series.

Quite a delightful read with a lot of twists and turns! It was informative in that I got to learn about the police system in Pakistan and some archaeological details with some knowledge related to mummification. The author’s narration was gripping and descriptive enough to imagine the setting of the scenes at different stages in the storyline.

The Museum Detective is a thrilling debut that follows archaeologist and museum curator Dr. Gul Delani as she investigates the discovery of a mysterious mummy during a drug bust in Pakistan.
As her quest for truth leads her deep into the world of stolen artifacts, Gul uncovers secrets that challenge her professional expertise. Along the way, she also comes close to unraveling the mystery behind a family member’s long-unsolved disappearance.

After a prolonged reading slump, The Museum Detective was the book I didn’t know I needed. The premise pulled me in—a unique blend of art, history, and mystery.

While the reveal didn’t leave me reeling as I expected, it still kept me thoroughly engaged. I’m definitely looking forward to reading the next books in the series.

The Museum Detective will surely pique your interest and make for a satisfying literary escape.