A sultan invites Sydney and Nigel to attend the funeral of her friend, the sultan's wife amateur-archaeologist Danielle, who died officially o the way to an education project in the desert, but also participated there in a secret dig. The sultan agreed to wed his daughter Alia to Jamal, the son of Hakim Mustafa, who leads a fundamentalist order which threatens to lunch a holy (civil) war otherwise. The only alternative to win enough popular support for the monarchy would be retrieving the long-lost star of Nadir, a jewel stolen from the Baghdad caliphs' court. Handed Danielle's research by sneaked-off Alia, the duo sets out to finish her research, but also has to deal with Mustafa goons who may seize it, while Jamal has a mind of his own.
—KGF Vissers