The Saudi Assignment

The New Teacher Has a Secret. So Does the School. One week after Sarah Hansen arrives at an American school in Saudi Arabia, a colleague is dead. The compound is eager to mourn and move on. Sarah starts taking notes. But Sarah is more than the new government teacher. She is also a new CIA officer, sent to find out who is leaking classified secrets before the biggest IPO in history. The Agency needed someone who could truly live the job, and Sarah has spent years in a classroom. No disguise is necessary. Just a teacher with a Saudi assignment. Behind its guarded gates, the compound is like a small town with better security. There are dinner parties and neighbors who all know each other's business. One of them is a killer. Between grading papers and chaperoning the Model UN trip to Hong Kong, Sarah keeps digging, with help from a fellow new teacher who never learns her secret and a stray cat she names Scout who hears every theory. The closer she gets to the truth, the harder it becomes to stay the person everyone thinks she is. In a kingdom where getting caught isn't an option, one wrong question could cost her everything. The Saudi Assignment is a clever, warm spy mystery with a heroine who wins by paying attention. Readers who love The Thursday Murder Club and the Finlay Donovan series will find a puzzle to solve alongside Sarah, everyday school life, and no gore. Fans of Maeve Binchy will recognize the warmth of a close community and friendships worth keeping. Spring Hempsey lived and taught in the Middle East, and the compound gates, the classroom, the dinner parties, and the weekend drives to Bahrain all come from life. Pour a cup of tea and meet the new teacher.