Intrigue in Istanbul

The latest installment in the new Jane Wunderly Mystery series featuring an American widow turned private investigator in 1920s England.

When vibrant American widow Jane Wunderly arrives in 1920s Turkey in search of her father, she finds a country redefining itself after the fall of the Ottoman Empire-and a deadly criminal who can't escape the past . . .

Istanbul, 1926: After her archeologist father makes a clandestine journey abroad, Jane and the dapper Mr. Redvers trace his footsteps while signs of danger loom back home in the United States. They're greeted at their destination by Aunt Millie and unsettling news: Professor Wunderly was on a mission to locate the lost heart of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent-a legendary relic from the Ottoman Empire said to possess potent mystical powers-then vanished completely, leaving behind his unpacked luggage, a perplexing riddle, and an eerie mystery Jane must solve to keep her loved ones safe.

What starts off as a clear-cut investigation becomes an intercontinental game of cat and mouse as Jane realizes a gang of nameless figures have been stalking her every move from Turkey to Hungary. And it seems even helpful friends can't be trusted for long when a man is stabbed to death on the Orient Express to Budapest. With Redvers by her side and few clues to rely on, Jane's desperate search for her father leads to centuries-old secrets and an unidentified enemy who could make her disappear like the missing Sultan's heart . . .

Erica Ruth Neubauer spent eleven years in the military, nearly two as a Maryland police officer, and one as a high school English teacher, before finding her way as a writer. She has been a reviewer of mysteries and crime fiction for publications such as Publishers Weekly and Mystery Scene Magazine for several years, andshe's a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. Erica Ruth lives in Milwaukee, WI.