I highly enjoyed reading this book.
The title may be "Museums Detective", but a deeper understanding or interest in archeology and/or museums is not needed to have a great time reading.
The characters are interesting and plausible. Gul is a smart, headstrong woman who has faced many difficulties. She decided to fight, not to run, and keeps fighting.
I have never been to Karachi or anywhere in Pakistan; therefore, I cannot tell if the descriptions are accurate, but it matches my expectations very well. It is fun to follow Gul through the city.
The story makes sense, does not get boring, and finishes within the book.
It is not one of those "there is a big mystery behind everything, and you will have to read ten books to really understand what is happening". However, I clearly would like to read more about Gul and her friends/colleagues.

I got access to this book via NetGalley but didn’t have a chance to finish it until now, and I’m so glad I did! I listened to the audiobook to complete it and enjoyed that more than just reading simply because I didn’t know how to pronounce some of the names in my head when reading. As a history teacher and lover of museums, this should be right up my alley - and it was! Good intrigue and a plot that took many fun and unexpected turns. This would make a great movie for a female protagonist! I do wish there was a bit more to the end, which is why it got 4 stars instead of 5.

I enjoyed this. The story was solid and well-written. The archaeological information was fascinating, as was the history (albeit mixed up with fiction which slightly lessens the impact). An enjoyable read.

THE MUSEUM DETECTIVE by Maha Khan Phillips is an intriguing mystery set in Karachi, Pakistan. The main character is Gul Delani, an archeologist who is called upon to assist with police inquiries when a mummy is discovered. Phillips notes, "studying history was always like this, Gul had learned: you had to piece together narratives that were conflicting, and biased, and human if you were going to create a logical arc." Readers will learn quite a bit about antiquities and the forensics involved; plus, they will likely sympathize with Gul who is saddened and frustrated by her niece's disappearance three years earlier. Frankly, some of that plot tangent did not totally coalesce for me (including references to broken fingers on different hands) but overall, the characters were likeable, the suspense was maintained, and the setting added significantly to the appeal. I am looking forward to more in this new series which received a starred review from Library Journal ("Inspired by true events, this series opener ... contains chilling, heart-pounding twists ... There is a delicate balance between Gul's professional investigation and her personal crisis regarding her family, all while being aided by a stalwart crew of friends and colleagues.").

Inspired by a real, unresolved true crime and set in Karachi, Pakistan, Phillips introduces readers to archeologist Gulfsa "Gul" Delani as she investigates whether the gilded mummy of a young woman is a historical treasure. The shocking answers are a lot closer than Gul suspects. This was a bit of a slow starter for me, but when the twist of the 'mummy' came, I was hooked and flew through the pages. As a Pakistani myself who visited Karachi, I was thrilled about the book's setting and appreciated how it dealt with the city's and its residents' complexity. I definitely look forward to Gul's further adventures. I would recommend it to fans of Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan, Elly Griffiths's Ruth Galloway or Nilima Rao's Akal Singh.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Soho Crime for the advanced reader's copy of the book.

This is an exciting, original series debut that I know will be one of my top reads of 2025. Gul is a highly engaging and likable main character. As a single middle aged woman it’s refreshing to have an educated, kind, and highly intelligent female main character in a mystery who isn’t looking for a husband or regretting her life choices. I believe most of us who grew up watching Indiana Jones movies wanted, at least a little bit, to be an archaeologist when we grew up and The Museum Detective fulfills that dream at least a little bit.

Karachi was a character in the story as well. I felt like I visited the city in person after reading this book as the setting was so fully realized and described with attention to detail.

I cannot wait for book 2 which is hopefully forthcoming.

**Thanks to the author and SoHo Crime for the e-arc I received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I also purchased the audiobook from Audible.**

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

The Museum Detective, set in Karachi, Pakistan, features Dr. Gul Denali, a curator at the Heritage and History Museum. The action begins in the middle of the night, as she is summoned by the police to a mysterious setting far out of the city to assess something they have found. She is a trained archaeologist, she does have a go kit at home ready to take with her. Thus begins a compelling adventure combining archaeology, history, museum culture, crime and corruption in Pakistan, and mystery. What exactly is this artifact that Gul is taken to examine? A mummy? But there is no history of mummies in Pakistan. This human sized apparent mummy will require very specific care and examination, as well as
protection given the level of corruption in the city and having been found during a drugs raid. Gul is perfect for this position given her background in Egyptology.

A second thread running constantly in the background is Gul’s missing niece, Mahnaz, who disappeared three years earlier. With this thought constantly thrumming in her head, Gul pulls together her team of students, employees and helpers and begins her plan of action. This is an exciting novel, well written, with many twists and turns. I do hope it is the start of a series. I like having a view into another culture through a novel I enjoyed. Some of the details of this story are based on an actual case that took place in Pakistan several years ago. My only wish was a dictionary at the end so I could understand the local words used in the text. This doesn’t impede the plot but only some of the details such as clothing or food which can often be guessed.

Definitely recommended.

Thanks to Soho Crime and NetGalley for an eARC of this book. This review is my own.

“The Museum Detective,” by Maha Khan Phillips, opens with Dr. Gul Delani being summoned to a crime scene. She’s an archaeologist who works for Pakistan’s Museum of Heritage and History, so she’s a little confused. She is stunned to discover that she was called to assess a mummy that, if proved authentic, could upend the historical narrative.

As Gul seeks evidence to prove the mummy is authentic, she becomes the target of a mysterious criminal who works in the antiquities black market. Gul’s work also puts her in conflict with the local community and her socially prominent brother. Worse, the work brings up the grief Gul still feels after the disappearance of her niece three years ago. Then she finds a connection between her niece and a story about the mummy.

This story starts off with a bang and keeps the reader engaged throughout. There are layers of complexity to the story. I like that Gul is pretty forthright about her struggles with mental health, including grief and depression following the disappearance of her niece. The blurb for the book hints that this may be the beginning of a series featuring Dr. Delani. I sure hope so!

This is a great story for readers who enjoy mysteries and archaeology.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and Soho Press, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a deep, layered, intersectional mystery with a complex sleuth in Pakistani archaeogist Gul Delani. Gul is awakened by a middle of the night phone call from the police. She immediately thinks it is connected to her niece's disappearance, but instead, she is called to the discovery of a stunning mummy. Like the mummy, though, there are layers to be unraveled, involving a mysterious criminal, the international market in antiquated and Gul's own family. Karachi is very much a character in the story, and I'm already itching for the next installment. This would pair beautifully in a book club read with Uzma Jalalludin's upcoming "Detective Aunty" Strong characters, solid plotting and some well-done twists kept me on my toes. 4.5 stars.

This thriller set in Pakistan drew me in on so many levels: the engaging many-layered mystery (although I did suspect the villain before the actual plot reveal), the main character and those who surrounded her, and most of all, the setting. I was intrigued to learn the story was loosely based on a real unsolved mystery. I do hope we haven't seen the last of Gul and her friends at the museum. Recommended for readers of "Warrior Girl Unearthed".

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 …??