'An enthralling thriller ... hypnotically readable' ANDREW TAYLOR

In the heat of the desert, will the trail go cold?

Cairo, 1938
Archie Nevenden is many things: amateur archaeologist; theatre impresario; absent father; potential defector. And now, he's a missing person.

His daughter, Prim, hasn't seen him for nearly fifteen years. But she's never given up on him, and now she's on her way to Cairo to assist in the search.

Harry Taverner claims to work for the British Council, but Prim knows there's more to it. He clearly has a theory about what happened to Archie, one she's not going to like.

As Prim and Harry uncover the layers of Archie's existence in Cairo, they find themselves drawn in to more than one conspiracy. And soon they'll discover that Archie may not be the only one in danger...

Praise for S W Perry:
'Powerful, panoramic' Sunday Times
'Beautifully written, entirely convincing' Leonora Nattrass
'Gripping and heartfelt' Elisabeth Gifford
'Sweeping' Daily Mail

"The Hudson River Valley, 1769: "A man mysteriously disappears without a trace, abandoning his wife and children on their farm at the foot of the Catskill Mountains. At first many believe that his wife, who has the reputation of being a scold, has driven her husband away, but as the strange circumstances of his disappearance circulate, a darker story unfolds. And as the lines between myth and reality fade in the wilderness, and an American nation struggles to emerge, the lost man's wife embarks on a desperate journey to find the means to ensure her family's survival . . .