The Scorpions Bite

It is 1943 and the world is at war. Archaeologist Lily Sampson has been sent by the Office of Strategic Services to survey TransJordan, along with Gideon Weil, the famous director of the American School of Archeological Research in Jerusalem. In the beautiful, silent, TransJordanian desert, they become stranded in the Wadi Rum and their Bedouin guide is murdered. When Gideon is accused of the crime, Lily must clear him of the accusation. Lily discovers that two oil pipelines from Iraq run through the desert: one through TransJordan which supplies the Allies and another through Syria which supplies the Nazis. At the same time, Lily learns of a Nazi plot to kidnap and kill the eightyearold king of Iraq. Now, Lily and Gideon must act to protect the TransJordan pipeline, sabotage the Syrian line, and rescue the king to prevent the Nazi takeover of Iraq. A Posioned Pen Press Mystery