Bestselling author Fiona Davis takes her meticulous research, emotional resonance and forward-thinking feminism abroad in THE STOLEN QUEEN. Set both in the iconic Metropolitan Museum of Art and ancient dig sites in Egypt, the novel presents a long-forgotten Egyptian queen, an ambitious but cautious Egyptologist, and the dazzling necklace that ties them together.

Hathorkare was an Egyptian woman who married the pharaoh Saukemet I, though she was unable to bear him a son to carry on his reign. Upon his death, it was determined that the child of one of his concubines would rule…until Hathorkare named herself regent. She built glorious temples, developed savvy trade agreements with neighboring countries, and stabilized Egypt’s economy so that her people could focus on art and leisure.

Of course, with male historians taking the lead for so many years, Hathorkare’s legacy neglected to include any of that, reducing her to a “vain, ambitious, and unscrupulous woman” hellbent on ruling. Add to that the fact that Saukemet II destroyed all of her caricatures and likenesses, and you have the makings of a royal story of corruption, betrayal and greed, all sealed in a legendary curse said to protect Hathorkare’s tomb from raiders. For a long time, this unflattering description was all that existed. Until Charlotte Cross arrived in Egypt.

"The scope of Davis’ work is breathtaking, nearly as dazzling as the artifacts she describes, and the mystery at the book’s core is one of her most gripping to date --- a true ripped-from-the-headlines tale of discovery and greed."

In 1936, Charlotte is a young woman studying abroad as an undergraduate supporting a team of “real” Egyptologists. Ever since the 1922 discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb, her generation has been united in their Egypt fever. With her strong work ethic and unflinching attitude, Charlotte quickly makes a name for herself on the team and is soon invited to dig herself. It is then that she discovers a tomb that she feels certain is Hathorkare’s. The exquisite broad collar inside, bedazzled with gold, feels royal, and the unidentified mummy nearby could be the queen.

Dedicating herself to uncovering more about the mysterious female pharaoh, Charlotte takes up with another member of the team, Henry. She soon finds herself married and pregnant, while Henry takes a role at a local museum cataloging artifacts. For some time it seems that their bliss is unending…until global politics force a swift ejection from Egypt, and Charlotte loses everything: her husband, her daughter, and any hope of saving Hathorkare’s reputation. Hathorkare’s curse, it seems, is well in effect.

Forty years later, Charlotte is working as an associate curator at the Metropolitan Museum’s Department of Egyptian Art. Although she has not remarried, she truly enjoys the work she does, including cleaning up after her supervisor, a “concept guy” who is happy to take credit for his ideas as long as Charlotte does all the actual legwork. But Charlotte has a secret: although she has never returned to Egypt, she has continued working on recovering Hathorkare’s legacy. Years of research have proven to her that Hathorkare was not hated by her husband’s son, and the destruction of her likenesses occurred not when Saukemet II took over, but long after. Now she just needs to prove it to the rest of the world.

As the Met prepares for a record-breaking King Tutankhamun exhibition --- and the millions of visitors it will draw --- and the Met Gala (yes, the Met Gala), Charlotte feels for the first time that her research was worth it, that she is this close to proving that Hathorkare was loved by her people. Then a mysterious, anonymous donation arrives: the very same cursed broad collar that Charlotte saw sink to the bottom of the Nile on the night she lost everything. When a threatening note soon follows, advising her to stop asking questions, she knows one thing for sure: Hathorkare, that night in the Nile, and this broad collar are all related. This means that she is close to finding out the truth…about everything.

Teaming up with the Met’s newest hire, Annie Jenkins, a neglected but hardworking young girl with an eye for fashion, Charlotte begins to investigate the broad collar’s provenance in earnest, even going so far as to hire a private investigator with knowledge of a renegade group of museum thieves dedicated to returning artifacts to their homeland. Just as she is getting close to the truth, however, the Met is attacked. Her favorite piece, a fragment of a statue known as the Cerulean Queen, is stolen. The Queen in question is none other than Hathorkare.

Now Charlotte knows that it’s all related and that the answers lie in Egypt, the one place she swore she would never return and the home of the very same curse that has cost her everything. If she wants to put Hathorkare in her rightful place in history as a strong, admired leader --- and make herself whole again in the process --- she will have to revisit not just Egypt, but also Hathorkare’s tomb and her own painful history…and risk awakening the curse once more.

While Hathorkare is fictional, Davis clarifies in an Author’s Note that she was inspired by Hatshepsut, whose story she bends to blend it more easily with Charlotte’s. The queen may be invented, but the research, history and assessments are not. If there is one trademark of a Fiona Davis novel, it is the seamless yet educational way that she blends fact and fiction. It is clear right from the first page of each of her books that her research is meticulous, and THE STOLEN QUEEN is no exception.

Whether detailing the closed-to-the-public workdays of the Met or the smell and temperature of a sand-covered cave, Davis is able to put her readers right there, clicking their heels over the marble floors of the Met or picking up a rusty shovel to dig into the past. Literally. She also takes an ambitious leap abroad here, unpacking centuries of Egyptology, artifact theft and deaccession, and the hazy line between discovery and ownership.

The scope of Davis’ work is breathtaking, nearly as dazzling as the artifacts she describes, and the mystery at the book’s core is one of her most gripping to date --- a true ripped-from-the-headlines tale of discovery and greed. Add to that the endearing and relatable Charlotte and Annie, with their real-world crises and progressive outlooks, and you have history that sings. I particularly liked the age-gap friendship between them, which highlights how much history has changed for women…and how much it hasn’t, especially in Charlotte’s time.

While Davis pens a seriously immersive work of historical fiction, her probings into questions of ownership and public duty make it feel searingly current, especially at a time when the public is taking a keener look at the objects it chooses to celebrate and present.

THE STOLEN QUEEN is a fantastic first read of 2025, a sure-to-please book club pick, and, of course, further proof that there is no historical mystery that Fiona Davis can’t uncover.