Published in paperback 14th July 2025 (ebook 25th July 2025) by Three Daggers.
From the cover of the book:
When Egyptologist Alex MacLure’s friend and mentor dies he’s stunned to discover she’s left a message—hidden, encoded, and meant only for him.With a mysterious artifact and a trail of cryptic symbols, Alex is thrust into a deadly race against time. What begins as a quest to finish her research quickly spirals into a chilling conclusion: her death was no accident. She was murdered for what she discovered.
Now he’s the next target.
Hunted by a ruthless adversary, Alex finds himself swept from the academic halls of London to the heart of Egypt’s oldest sites.
As he races to decode a forgotten truth buried beneath centuries of deception, powerful enemies close in—willing to kill to protect a secret—a revelation so explosive, it could rewrite everything we know about ancient Egypt and religion.
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When Egyptologist Alex MacLure's close friend, Dr Ellen Champion, dies under suspicious circumstances he is determined to find out why. Could her demise be related to the research she had been undertaking into Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon's infamous discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922? If so, why?
With the police eyeing him as a suspect, and the feeling that he is being followed, Alex knows he must tread carefully. Armed with the knowledge that Emma had been decoding mysterious symbols that appeared to reveal a big secret about the tomb and its contents, and the discovery of an enigmatic clue that she has left him to follow, Alex sets off on a quest to complete her research.
The trail takes him from the streets of London, to the dreaming spires of Oxford, and finally to the burning sands of Egypt. It becomes clear that Emma was murdered for what she knew by a powerful enemy hiding in the shadows, and they will stop at nothing to prevent an ancient secret from getting out...
In a delicious mash-up of Wilbur Smith, Dan Brown, Indiana Jones, National Treasure, and Tomb Raider Murray Bailey takes an exciting leap into a contemporary thriller that is entertainingly different from his area of interest in the 1940s/1950s that I am familiar with.
The story unfurls largely from the perspective of Egyptologist Alex MacLure, who is dragged into a murky world where his interest in the symbolism of numbers gives him a curious edge in a dangerous treasure hunt for lost artifacts related to Carter and Lord Carnarvon's discoveries. The narrative is spiced up by intriguing sections about the police investigation into Emma's death, as well as additional juicy threads about the machinations of those who are keen to stop Alex in his tracks for different reasons of their own (which become evident as the story progresses).
The action moves super fast between locations as Alex makes his discoveries, finds allies to aid him in his cause, and dodges those who are out to get him, which makes for a very exciting story. I did want to yell at him at times to be a bit more guarded in who trusts, as this gets him into more than one sticky situation, but he is very likeable, and the left-of-centre way his brain makes leaps forward as the plot twists and turns around connections and puzzles really keeps things interesting.
A lot of fascinating information about Egyptology, archaeology, mythology, religion, mathematics, and mysticism comes at you quickly in this thriller, so you do have to pay close attention, but the payoff at the gripping conclusion makes this attention to detail so worthwhile. And it is a conclusion that keeps you perilously perched on the edge of your seat too!
This is unlike anything I have read from Murray Bailey before, but his central themes of secrets, conspiracy, deception, and absorbing history are here in spades, and this story provides just as much 'bang for your buck' as I have come to know and love from his books. I galloped through it in a single sitting, and cannot wait for the next book in the series, The Mark of Eternity, which is coming next year.
The Heretic Cypher is available to buy now in paperback, and ebook formats.
Thank you to Murray Bailey for providing me with an e-copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
Murray is well traveled, having worked in the US, South America and a number of European countries throughout his career as a management consultant. However he also managed to find the time to edit books, contribute to articles and act as a part-time magazine editor.
Murray was born in Manchester and now lives on the south coast of England with his family and two dogs, Teddy and Muffin.
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