Death Beyond the Nile

There's murder at a dig in the Egyptian desert in this mannered meeting of mystery and espionage. Tamara Hoyland, the spy/sleuth last seen in A Kind of Healthy Grave , is on an archaeological tour in Egypt shadowing Janet Macmillan, a physiologist whose research could threaten British security. Others on the tour include Vanessa Papillion, a vicious gossip and chat-show hostessand those with motive to kill her: poet Timothy Knipe, Vanessa's (formerly Janet's) would-be gigolo; John Benson, a snobbish dealer in spurious art, his childish sister Anne; and cheerful Hugo Bloom, their perennial houseguest. At the dig we meet Giles Needham, a single-minded archeologist, and Polly, his love-smitten assistant. Mann adds ransom notes, secret identities, a possible cure for epilepsy and isolation under the hot sun to her tale, better read as leisurely thriller than mystery. Readers willing to forgive her withholding of information will enjoy the well-rendered local color and squalor, off-beat plot devices and clever dialogue. (Feb.)