The Golden Scales

A lost child. A missing hero. A bitter rivalry. In Cairo the ghosts of the past are stirring...

Makana is a former police inspector who fled for his life to Cairo from his native Sudan seven years ago. Down on his luck and haunted by the past, he lives on a rickety Nile houseboat. When the notorious and powerful Saad Hanafi hires him to track down a missing person Makana is in no position to refuse him. Hanafi, whose past is as shady as his fortune is glittering, is the owner of Cairo's star-studded football team. His most valuable player has just vanished and Adil Romario's disappearance threatens to bring down not only Hanafi's private empire, but the entire country. But why should the city's most powerful man hire its lowliest private detective? Thrust into a dangerous and glittering world, Makana's investigation leads him into the treacherous underbelly of his adopted country- where he encounters Muslim extremists, Russian gangsters and a desperate mother hunting for her missing daughter. It becomes a trail that stirs up painful memories, leading him back into the sights of an old and dangerous enemy...


Genre: Mystery

"Bilal expertly delivers a wonderfully rich thriller, at once multi-layered and intriguing. His character, Makana, is a thoroughly self-assured and fascinating character, and it was a joy to have been so effortlessly engaged. A rare and special treat." - R J Ellory