The Curse of Hatra: an Agatha Dupree mystery (Agatha Dupree mystery series)

Northern Iraq. An American aircraft streaks towards a suspected terrorist target and launches a laser-guided missile. At the last second, the pilot is ordered to abort and vectors the million dollar munition out into the empty desert – toward Hatra. The massive explosion produces blasts a huge crater into the earth, revealing the entrance to an underground vault containing priceless Sumerian artifacts previously buried under the sand of millennia. It also unleashes an ancient curse. Like the winged horrors unleashed from Pandora's box, a tornado of greed, suspicion, thievery and murder swirl around the precious tablets unearthed by chance. Everyone who comes into contact with these mysterious relics seems to be dying an untimely death. In the center of this maelstrom is Agatha Dupree, veteran reporter for Chicago's Tattler. Agatha must find the clue that unlocks the mystery – and identify the sinister figure behind it – before the third professor, her mother Nanna, likewise falls victim to the curse of Hatra.