DARK OF NIGHT

The theft of priceless papyrus fragments leads to murder and an international search for both the parchments and a killer.

Dr. Elizabeth Lawrence, head of the Chicago Institute of Middle Eastern Antiquities, excitedly receives a pair of documents known as the Moses papyri during a late-night rendezvous. When she abruptly goes missing, both Ronen Avraham, of the Israeli Antiquities Authority, and Elizabeth’s friend Dr. Evan Wilding, a professor of semiotics, linguistics, and paleography at the University of Chicago, undertake separate searches. Elizabeth’s recent diagnosis of cancer leads Evan to suspect suicide. Then police detective Addie Bisset, for whom Evan has worked previously as a consultant, calls with the news that Elizabeth’s been found dead in her car. When examining her body, Evan discovers an Egyptian cobra. It’s apparently the agent of death…and a message as well? Nickless’ character-driven mystery unfolds on a panoramic scale, presenting a huge cast of characters and working in interesting sidebars about mythology, paleontology, Middle East history, cobras, Chicago tourist attractions, and more. Addie focuses primarily on forensics, while Evan undertakes phone- and legwork. He alertly links the murder to Elizabeth’s recent trip to Israel. Once they team up, the investigative path takes the duo through numerous sketchy characters in the worlds of antiquities, academia, and the Mossad. Perro, a corgi Evan is dogsitting, proves an able sidekick and source of comic relief.

Engrossing bits of scholarship tucked into a nifty procedural with amiable sleuths.