' THE REAL THING ' : BOOK REVIEW SNIPPET

' The Museum Detective ' : By Maha Khan Phillips. I really enjoyed the author's earlier novel. The Curse of Mohenjodaro.

With that book, the author demonstrated that, in spite of being an amateur, when it comes to historical scholarship, she has a sound grasp of the atmosphere and flavour that collectively imbue good historical fiction with a sense of purpose and authenticity.

The great Agatha Christie [ who, due to her being married to an archaeologist Max Mallowan, was based in Iraq for decades ] wrote one historical mystery.

Death Comes as the End. It is set in ancient Egypt, a period that still holds sway over the minds of many.

Phillips, whose writing denotes her as implicitly being a fan of Christie's, sets her most recent novel,  The Museum Detective, in modern-day Karachi.

However the main protagonist Gulfsa '' Gul '' Delani is a highly qualified archaeologist whose expertise leads to her being asked by the police to examine a mummy in an ornate sarcophagus not in Egypt but in Balochistan of all places.

The novel is based on a true case. About 25 years ago, the mummified body of a woman was located in the Balochistan region, and it was speculated that she might have originated from Persepolis [ ancient Persia ].

The Iranian and Pakistani government squabbled excitedly [ and ultimately pointlessly ] about which country this '' major historical find '' belonged to, until the mummy was proven to be a fake.

Dr. Asma Ibrahim, a notable Karachi museologist had a major say to determine this.

Although Phillips's acknowledgements section underscores her position as an elite member of Pakistani society, beyond the veneer, her work possesses real value.

When it comes to writing, she herself is '' the real thing '' and so it doesn't matter much whether her mummy ultimately is or isn't.

The World Students Society thanks Associate Professor Nadya Chishty Mujahid of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts at the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi.