Dead Letters: A Claudia Rose Novel

Sheila Lowe

Aug 2021 · Write Choice Ink

About this ebook

With her brother jailed on a charge of homicide, Claudia Rose takes his place when his teenage daughter goes missing from an archaeological dig in Egypt. Traveling to Cairo and Luxor, Claudia discovers that her sheltered niece, Monica, is behaving entirely out of character. She’s taken off on a romantic weekend getaway with Colin Vine, an archaeologist with a shady past that seems to be spilling into the present. Her search for Monica takes her into a tomb, to Gibraltar, and to the UK, where her skills as a forensic handwriting expert of international renown are needed to help foil a terrorist plot—if only she can find her niece before she and Colin are used as pawns in a deadly game.

Ratings and reviews

When it rains, it pours. Claudia Rose's brother plans to join a few friends for a reunion of sorts. Unfortunately, he has a run-in with a man. The next morning, the man is found dead. Claudia gets a call from her brother asking her to get him a lawyer, as he's been arrested for murder. Meanwhile her niece. Monica, is in Egypt helping out at an archeology site. She's supposed to check in with her dad or her aunt every single day. When no phone calls come in and she ignores text messages, Claudia becomes concerned. With her brother having no choice but to remain at home, it is up to Claudia to make a trip to Egypt herself. Checking with Monica's friends and advisor at the site, she discovers that Monica has disappeared. Talking to her best friend, hoping they've been in contact, Claudia learns that Monica has been seeing a young man from another site .. and he has also disappeared. The frantic search takes Claudia to Egypt, Gibraltar, and the UK, where her skills as a forensic handwriting expert of international renown are needed to help foil a deadly terrorist plot. As it's been 4 years since the last Claudia Rose book, I was keeping fingers crossed the book would be as well-written as the first in her series. I was not disappointed. The plot is intriguing and the story line well developed. The characters are solidly drawn. I learned a lot about Egypt .. it's culture, both past and present ... the people .. the artifacts that have been discovered. Although 8th in the series, this is easily read as a stand alone. Many thanks to the author / Write Choice Ink / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

international-crime-and-mystery, intrigue, suspense, abduction, illegal-antiquities-trade, family-dynamics, friendship, archaeologist, thriller***** What a thrill ride! Suspense to the very end! And the intense story centered on Claudia's young niece is bookended by the girl's father (Claudia's brother) wrongfully accused of murder! Not exactly the best way to tour Egypt, Gibraltar, and London! Great read and expertly narrated by voice actor Anna Crowe.

About the author

Sheila Lowe writes stories of psychological suspense that put ordinary people into extraordinary circumstances. Like her fictional character Claudia Rose, Sheila is a certified forensic document examiner who testifies in court cases, and her analyses of handwritings are often seen in the media.

The books in Sheila’s Forensic Handwriting series and her Beyond the Veil paranormal suspense series have all been #1 Amazon bestsellers. She also authored the internationally acclaimed The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Handwriting Analysis and Handwriting of the Famous & Infamous. Additional non-fiction titles include Reading Between the Lines, Advanced Studies in Handwriting Psychology, Personality & Anxiety Disorders, Succeeding in the Business of Handwriting Analysis, and Handwriting Analyzer software used in law enforcement, governments, and business. Sheila has published with Capital Crimes, Penguin/Obsidian, Macmillan/Pearson Education, Suspense, and now Write Choice Ink. 

Sheila holds a Master of Science degree in psychology. In addition to writing, Sheila teaches handwriting analysis to students around the world through her online course. She has also taught in the Crime Scene Investigation Certificate program at the University of California Riverside campus and has been a guest lecturer in the UC Santa Barbara Discovery Program and at Ventura Community College. She has served as president of the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation for nearly a decade and is on the board of directors of the Scientific Association of Forensic Examiners. Sheila lives in Ventura, California. 

Connect with her online at www.SheilaLoweBooks.com or linktr.ee/sheilaloweauthor. Sign-up for Sheila’s occasional newsletter—she will never share your information.