City of Jasmine

It has been five years since Evangeline Starke lost her husband to the sinking of the Lusitania. Now she scrapes together a living as an aviatrix, flying her little aeroplane and entertaining the press with her exploits. During her current tour around the world with her Aunt Dove, Evie receives in the mail a photograph that rocks her world: a recent photograph of Gabriel, the husband she thought she had said goodbye to years ago. Unable to rest without knowing the truth, Evie follows the trail to Damascus, where she gets sucked into a mystery swirling around a historical relic. The truths she finds in the desert will alter the course of her life.

Deanna Raybourn has never disappointed me, and City of Jasmine is no exception. This delightful historical novel has just the right blend of mystery, humor, romance, and drama, which will surely keep readers enthralled to the very last page. With a richly detailed setting and characters so real, so utterly believable, this one is hard to put down. Raybourn’s fans will appreciate the name-dropping of characters from her last novel, while readers new to her work will find themselves heading back to the store to pick up copies of her other books. A fantastic story to get lost in.