The Torch of Tangier : a Lily Sampson Mystery / Volume 2

Lily Sampson finds herself in Morocco working at the American Legation on an undercover mission linked to Operation Torch. The mission: to control French Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, squash Rommel, and thrust into Europe's underbelly. However, Lily's mastery of code is interrupted by murders which imperil her and the operation. Publishers Weekly Set in 1942, Baron's fast-paced second thriller/mystery featuring Lily Sampson (after 2002's A Fly Has a Hundred Eyes) finds the attractive archeologist working in Morocco, where her mentor, Prof. Hammond Drury, gets her involved with the clandestine activities of William Wild Bill Donovan, the real-life founder of the OSS. Lily and Hammond take cover jobs as part of the American legation in Tangier, while coded messages whiz back and forth in preparation for an Allied surprise offensive against Rommel. Foreign agents of several countries cast an eye on Lily, and two of her friends meet violent ends in a whodunit subplot that borders on the simplistic. Baron may not meld political treachery, murder and historical detail as seamlessly as, say, Michael Pearce in his Egyptian historicals (Death of an Effendi), but the issues she raises about Western versus Islamic cultural values couldn't be more timely. (May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. War time Tangier, policed by Franco's Guardia Civil, thick with many nationalities including Germans and Allies, bitter with the insults of Colonialism, is a dangerous place. Archaeologist Lily Sampson, recruited from her studies in Chicago by the enigmatic Dr. Drury, finds herself in Morocco digging up Neanderthal artifacts at the Cave of Hercules. Quite soon, she's summoned to help the American Legation with an undercover mission linked to Operation Torch. The target date: November 8, 1942. The mission: to control French Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, squash Rommel, and thrust into Europe's underbelly. Out in the Atlantic, General Eisenhower will rely on relayed communications. But Lily's mastery of code is interrupted by murder--not one, but two--which not only imperils her, but Operation Torch itself It's now 1941, and Lily finds herself in the politically turbulent city of Tangier at the behest of brilliant professor Hammond Drury, who asked her to join him on a Moroccan dig. Lily soon finds out, however, that her "competence in digging" isn't Drury's real concern: it's the Allied initiative in North Africa. A murky stew of spies and counterspies, friends and enemies, marks this colorful, convoluted espionage thriller