Maha Khan Phillips (nee Maha Khan) is a Karachi-born fiction writer and an award-winning financial journalist. She lives in London but regularly visits Pakistan. Her third novel and her first work of crime fiction, The Museum Detective, has received much acclaim. She discusses the novel in an email interview with Books&Authors…

The Museum Detective, your first work of crime fiction, has been a huge success. What led you to write it?

Maha Khan Phillips (MKP): I was inspired by real events. Twenty-five years ago, the police arrested two men in Karachi who were attempting to sell an ancient Persian mummy for 11 million dollars. They claimed that they had come across the body of one of King Xerxes’ daughters. The discovery made global headlines until Dr Asma Ibrahim, an archaeologist in Karachi, proved that the mummy was a hoax. Not only that, but the woman at the centre of it all could have been murdered in order to be mummified.

This inspired my own fictional account of Dr Gul Delani, a Karachi-based archaeologist who takes custody of a mummy and becomes convinced it is the body of her missing niece. At first, I thought writing the novel would be straightforward, because the true events were already so dramatic. In reality, it proved challenging. Where did the real case end and where did my fictional story begin? I had to separate truth from fiction and let my imagination take over.

How did the character of Gulfsa “Gul” Delani evolve?

MKP: I love Gul. She’s feisty and fierce and whip-smart. She was partly inspired by real people — such as Dr Asma Ibrahim, or ‘Madam Museum’ as she is fondly called in Karachi, and also the famous Pakistani Egyptologist Dr Salima Ikram. Both these women have done so much for heritage and antiquity and are passionate about preserving cultures and history. Furthermore, I grew up surrounded by smart, independent women, and I suspect I was channelling some of their energy as well. I wanted Gul to be compassionate but headstrong and brave enough to go on this huge adventure, yet focused on protecting those she loves.

The plot is impelled by fascinating, little-known historical details, ranging from the rituals and customs of ancient Egypt and Persia to Greek and European anecdotes, as well as contemporary scholarly references. How did these come about?

MKP: Oh, the ideas came from everywhere. I drew inspiration from visiting ancient Egyptian temples, reading books on everything from the Achaemenid Empire to historical curse words, and from talking to Egyptologists. The distinguished scholar Dr John J. Johnston shared some particularly ghoulish stories about mummies and about the Egyptomania of the Victorian period that ended up in the novel. It was great fun.

Did your historical research change your perceptions of the past and/or present?

MKP: I’ve always been fascinated by the notion that people don’t change. Our circumstances do, of course. Our technologies advance, and our societies evolve. But our wants and desires, our ambitions and concerns, the desire to love and be loved, to create and to conquer… that is timeless. I am not a historian, but the more I learn about the past, the better I understand my own place in the world.

Your book is permeated with a strong feminist consciousness. Can you comment on how patriarchal narratives/ concepts shape the lives of your women protagonists? And how does reality reveal alternative truths?

MKH: When I first spoke to Asma, she told me how patriarchal the world of archaeology in Pakistan was when she first started out: she needed her parents’ signed permission to go on digs and do her job, simply because she was a woman. That stayed with me. Patriarchy still shapes so many choices women can make. I wanted to explore that reality in the novel. I was also interested in how patriarchal thinking shapes our understanding of history. I may be wrong, but I suspect the smugglers behind the real mummy hoax would have struggled if they’d tried to pass off a male body. There is far too much documented about King Xerxes’ sons for them to get away with it. It would be far easier to claim to have stumbled upon the body of a ‘lost daughter.’

The novel is very cleverly structured in a plot full of twists and turns, as the narrative moves across, incorporates and indeed characterises Karachi’s diversity. Did you discover new aspects of the city?

MKP: One of the most joyous things about writing the novel is that my protagonist traverses the city with ease. She goes to places that I never visited growing up. I loved learning about Karachi through her adventures. For me, it was one of the most rewarding journeys with this novel, to explore the city in new ways. Part of that literally involved looking at things on a map. At one point, Gul is at police headquarters and, when I was researching that, I came across Gora Qabristan. It has this monumental cross that dominates the skyline. I had never seen it, but it was so striking that I immediately put it in the novel. Now, when I spend time in Karachi, I try to think about new places to go to and things that I haven’t seen before.

Gul’s emotional turmoil over the mysterious absence of her much-loved niece, Mahnaz, includes fond memories, such as their secret code inspired by Agatha Christie’s fiction. Which crime writers inspired you?

I was definitely inspired by Agatha Christie, but even more so by her amateur archaeology. She was so humble about her adventures — it was extraordinary. In terms of crime writers, I love stories set in evocative places. For example, Jane Harper writing about the Australian outback will make your heart pound. I also love a good story with strong twists and turns and Ruth Ware is always a brilliant read. The UK has an incredible array of crime-writing and police procedurals, and I adore Val McDermid in particular. I recently started reading Elly Griffiths because someone told me that I would love the forensic archaeologist character Dr Ruth Galloway, and they were right. This year, I also had the privilege of coming across the work of Sujata Massey, whose Perveen Mistry series — set in 1920s Bombay — is a joy. Closer to home, I love the landscape of Karachi that Omar Shahid Hamid evokes in his crime fiction.

Are you developing The Museum Detective into a series?

MKP: Yes, I’m delighted to say Gul is coming back, this time in a mystery rooted in murder and reincarnation lore, set between Karachi and feudal Sindh. Many of the characters from The Museum Detective return, and several narrative threads continue. The novel is also inspired by the legends of the Gondrani Caves in Balochistan. The plan is for Gul’s investigations to continue across a series, with each one showcasing some of Pakistan’s remarkable heritage and history, while also dealing with contemporary issues and challenges that shape it.

The interviewer is the author of Hybrid Tapestries: The Development of Pakistani Literature in English

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, January 18th, 2026