It is the summer of 1938 and Jerusalem is in chaos. The atmosphere teems with intrigue as terrorists roam the countryside and the British are losing control of Palestine, even as Europe nervously teeters on the brink of World War II. Against this backdrop of international tensions, Lily Sampson, an American graduate student, is involved in a dig—an important excavation directed by the eminent British archaeologist, Geoffrey Eastbourne. As he makes his way to the opening of the Rockefeller Museum, an important member of the dig is murdered. Precious artifacts from the dig are missing, one of which is a beautiful blue glass amphoriskos (a vial about three and a half inches long) which Lily herself had excavated. Upset by this loss, she searches for the vial—enlisting the help of the military attaché of the American consulate. But when she contacts the British police, they seem evasive and offputting—unable or unwilling either to find the murderer or to look into the theft of the amphoriskos. Lily realizes that she will get no help from them and sets out on her own to find the vial. When she finds the victim’s journal in her tent, she assumes he had left it for her because he feared for his life. Lily’s adventurous search for information about the murder and the theft of the amphoriskos lead into a labyrinth of extreme danger and intrigue.

Who would have guessed that an ancient excavation would end in a modern murder...? Under the pressure of war, heroes arise in unusual places. In Aileen Baron's The Torch of Tangier, the main character is not a brave soldier stolen from his home; on the contrary, she is an archeologist. World War II transformed Lily Sampson's job into a nightmare. She should be uncovering Neanderthal artifacts; instead she is stuck in Tangier with the rest of the team, awaiting clearance to dig from Franco's Guardia Civil But that doesn't stop Lily from working. Recruited into the OSS, Lily is quickly part of Operation Torch whose mission is to gain control of French Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, and to squash Rommel. And then, her work for her country's cause is interrupted by murder....

"A fast-paced story set in a fascinating time and place."― Historical Novel Society It is 1943 and the world is at war. Archaeologist Lily Sampson has been sent to Trans-Jordan by the OSS, along with Gideon Weil, the famous director of the American School of Archeology in Jerusalem. As part of their survey, they roam the beautiful, silent desert where the indelible presence of Lawrence of Arabia still lingers, and where the ancient Nabateans once ruled an empire from their capital in Petra. But soon Lily and Gideon are stranded in the Wadi Rum, and their Bedouin guide is murdered. Could Gideon be guilty of the crime? Then the pair learn that two oil pipelines run from Iraq through the desert to ports on the one through Trans-Jordan supplying the Allies, the other through Syria supplying the Nazis. Syrians and Vichy French are raiding across the border, threatening to destroy the Trans-Jordan pipeline. Lily and Gideon's real mission is to help safeguard the pipeline and to prevent oil from reaching the Nazis. At the same time, Lily uncovers a Nazi plot to kidnap and kill the eight-year-old King Faisal of Iraq. Can Lily and Gideon clear Gideon's name, protect the Trans-Jordan pipeline, sabotage the Syrian line, and rescue Faisal to prevent the Nazi takeover of Iraq?