1924, Egypt. Dr. Clarissa Bell has built her reputation on meticulous scholarship and scientific precision. As an American archaeologist specializing in ancient pigments, she's more comfortable with pottery shards than corpses.

But when she's mysteriously invited aboard a luxury Nile steamship to authenticate a collection of rare lapis lazuli artifacts, her peaceful academic life explodes into murder, conspiracy, and international intrigue.

And if that's not enough, there's another complication: Benedict Quinn, the devastatingly charming Brit who needs Clarissa to pose as his fiancée to infiltrate the conspiracy-and who's far too good at making their fake relationship feel dangerously real.