Paul Sussman
Paul Sussman has published 6 books across 3 series. The recommended reading order starts with The Final Testimony of Raphael Ignatius Phoenix (1605).
Paul Sussman was an English author of thriller novels and a practicing archaeologist who unearthed pharaonic jewelry from the Valley of the Kings, the only such discovery since King Tut's in 1922. His archaeological work in Egypt informed his fiction, particularly the Yusuf Khalifa series. Sussman also worked as a journalist, writing a satirical column called "In the News" for The Big Issue. He published his first book, the non-fiction Death by Spaghetti…, in 1996. His debut as a novelist was in 2002 with The Lost Army of Cambyses. Sussman's career was cut short when he died suddenly in 2012 from a ruptured aneurysm, leaving behind his wife and two sons.
Shelf & Shadows
Order of Non-Fiction Books
- Tagsnon-fictionDescriptionWhat happens when food becomes the weapon and the dinner table turns into a crime scene? Paul Sussman takes us into the darkly comic world of culinary catastrophe in *Death by Spaghetti*. This isn't your typical cozy mystery. The stakes are real, the pasta is deadly, and someone's got murder on the menu. The premise hooks you immediately: a seemingly innocent meal becomes the vehicle for something sinister. Sussman weaves together the mundane ritual of eating with the extraordinary act of killing, creating a tension that's both absurd and genuinely unsettling. You'll never look at a plate of spaghetti the same way again. What makes this work is Sussman's ability to balance the macabre with the everyday. He understands that the most disturbing crimes often happen in the most ordinary places. The kitchen. The dining room. Places we're supposed to feel safe. His prose is sharp and unflinching, moving through the investigation with the precision of a chef's knife. If you're drawn to true crime that doesn't shy away from the bizarre, or if you appreciate dark humor served with a side of genuine intrigue, this one's for you.Publication dateJanuary 1, 1996Amazon rating3.8/5LanguageEnglishPublisherFourth Estate
Order of Standalone Novels
- Tagsmysterycrimehistorical-fictionDescriptionRaphael Ignatius Phoenix is standing in an isolated castle, marker in hand, ready to write his confession on the walls. He's a hundred years old—or will be in ten days, when he plans to kill himself at the stroke of midnight on January 1st, 2000. But first, he needs to set the record straight. The walls become his canvas, his confessional, his final testament. He begins with Emily, the childhood friend who became his constant companion, and traces a life that sprawled across the entire twentieth century—a life crammed with adventures, encounters, and yes, ten murders. Ten. He's matter-of-fact about it, almost casual, as if homicide were just another item on a long and varied résumé. What unfolds is a riotous, outrageous, and wholly unreliable account of one man's journey through a hundred years of history. Raphael is an unconventional narrator, to say the least—his version of events is singular, subjective, and unapologetically his own. You're never quite sure what's truth and what's embellishment, but that's part of the strange charm. Paul Sussman has crafted something darkly whimsical here: a century's worth of chaos and contradiction told by a man who's decided he's had enough. It's morbid, it's funny, and it's utterly compelling—a farewell letter written in blood, ink, and memory on cold stone walls.Publication dateJanuary 1, 1605Amazon rating4.1/5LanguageEnglishPublisherblack swan (december 4, 2014)
- TagssuspensecrimethrillermysteryDescriptionFreya Hannen is already moving when the novel begins. Her sister Alex is dead. The circumstances are murky. The only lead is a name whispered in the desert: Zerzura. This is not a treasure hunt for glory. Freya enlists Flin Brodie, a friend of her sister's, and together they plunge into the Egyptian sands chasing a legend most scholars dismiss. Zerzura—the lost oasis, the white city, the place that appears on no map. Inside it, supposedly, rests a mythic stone. But Sussman isn't interested in Indiana Jones theatrics. This is archaeology as obsession, grief as compass. The search for Zerzura becomes the search for Alex, for what she knew, for why she died. The desert doesn't give answers easily. Sussman writes the Sahara like a character—vast, indifferent, unforgiving. His prose is lean and sun-scorched. The novel moves with the urgency of a woman who has lost everything and the precision of a scholar who knows the difference between myth and truth is thinner than most people think. What sets The Hidden Oasis apart is its refusal to separate the personal from the historical. Freya's grief and the ancient stone are bound together, and the deeper she digs, the more dangerous both become.Publication dateSeptember 14, 2010Amazon rating4.2/5Print length528LanguageEnglishPublisherGrove Press
Order of Yusuf Khalifa Books
- TagscrimethrillermysterysuspenseDescriptionWhat happens when a secret is so dangerous that men across two millennia have died to protect it—or possess it? Paul Sussman's The Last Secret of the Temple asks this question with the urgency of a ticking bomb, weaving together three timelines into a conspiracy thriller that spans from the fall of Jerusalem to the present day. The atmosphere here is thick with dust and dread. Ancient ruins in the Valley of the Kings. A Nazi mine shaft in wartime Germany. The besieged Holy Temple as Rome closes in. Sussman builds a world where history isn't dead—it's waiting, coiled and lethal, ready to explode into the present. Inspector Yusuf Khalifa of the Luxor police stumbles onto what seems like a routine murder, but the deeper he digs, the more the ground shifts beneath him. He's chasing something that powerful people will kill to keep buried. This is a novel that hurtles forward with the momentum of a Dan Brown thriller, but Sussman adds layers: Crusades, Cathar heretics, coded manuscripts, Holocaust horrors. The stakes? An artifact that could ignite the entire Middle East. A blood bath waiting to happen. Khalifa doesn't realize he's in a race until it's almost too late. And he's not the only one hunting. The path is dangerous, the secret is ancient, and the clock is running out.Publication dateSeptember 1, 2008Amazon rating4.3/5Print length560LanguageEnglishPublisherGrove Press
- TagsthrillermysterysuspensecrimeDescriptionA mutilated corpse surfaces along the Nile's muddy banks, and Inspector Yusuf Khalifa of the Luxor police knows instinctively that this is no ordinary crime—the air itself seems to thicken with the weight of something ancient and unresolved. When an antiques dealer is murdered and a prominent British archaeologist turns up dead at Saqqara's timeworn necropolis, the threads of violence begin to weave a pattern too deliberate to ignore. Enter Tara Mullray, the archaeologist's daughter, driven by grief and a fierce need for answers, and suddenly Khalifa finds himself with an unlikely ally in a hunt that will demand everything they have. What begins as separate tragedies spirals into a labyrinth of intrigue that stretches from Cairo's shadowed alleyways to the shimmering expanse of the Nile, from whispered rumors of a lost tomb hidden in the Theban Hills to a cryptic fragment of hieroglyphic text that may hold the key to it all. As Khalifa and Mullray race against those who would kill to protect their secrets, they are drawn inexorably toward the western desert's unforgiving vastness, where the sands conceal one of antiquity's most tantalizing enigmas: the fate of Cambyses' lost army. Sussman crafts a thriller steeped in atmosphere and history, where every clue unearthed brings them closer to danger—and to a truth buried for millennia.Publication dateApril 11, 2008Amazon rating4.3/5Print length288LanguageEnglishPublisherGrove Press
- TagsmysterythrillercrimesuspenseDescriptionDetective Yusuf Khalifa finds himself navigating the treacherous currents of modern Egypt, where ancient secrets and contemporary violence collide in ways that threaten to consume him. When a murder investigation pulls him into the shadowy world of archaeological intrigue, Khalifa must untangle a conspiracy that reaches back thousands of years to the mysteries of Osiris himself, threading through layers of deception that blur the line between myth and murder, between the sacred tombs of pharaohs and the brutal realities of present-day crime. Paul Sussman crafts a thriller that refuses to choose between intellectual depth and breakneck pacing, delivering both with the confidence of someone who knows Egypt's dust and darkness intimately. What sets this apart is Sussman's refusal to treat ancient history as mere exotic backdrop—here, the past is a living, breathing force that shapes every choice Khalifa makes, every danger he faces. The labyrinth of the title is both literal and metaphorical, a maze of stone corridors and moral complexities where one wrong turn could mean death, and where the truth Khalifa seeks may be more dangerous than any lie. This is archaeological thriller writing at its most atmospheric and intelligent, anchored by a protagonist whose world-weariness and determination make him worth following into the darkest corners of Egypt's underworld.Publication dateNovember 12, 2013Amazon rating4.4/5Print length576LanguageEnglishPublisherGrove Press
Frequently Asked Questions about Paul Sussman
Paul Sussman's books can be read in a few different ways. His standalone novels, like The Hidden Oasis, can be read independently. He also wrote a non-fiction book, Death by Spaghetti. His primary series is the Yusuf Khalifa books, which are best read in chronological order to fully appreciate the character's development and the unfolding plotlines. The first book in this series is The Last Secret of the Temple. If you prefer to start with a series, beginning with The Last Secret of the Temple is the recommended entry point into the Yusuf Khalifa novels. If you want to dive into his standalone work, The Hidden Oasis is a good choice.
A good starting point for Paul Sussman's books is with his Yusuf Khalifa series, beginning with The Last Secret of the Temple. This series allows readers to follow the character's arc and the interconnected narratives. Alternatively, his standalone novel, The Hidden Oasis, offers a complete story that can be enjoyed without prior knowledge of his other works. Both provide an excellent introduction to his writing style and the types of stories he tells. Death by Spaghetti, a non-fiction work, is also available if that format is preferred.
While the Yusuf Khalifa series has an internal chronological order that enhances the reading experience, it is not strictly necessary to read every book in sequence. Each novel within the series tends to offer a self-contained plot that can be followed. However, to gain the full context of the character Yusuf Khalifa and the overarching storylines, reading them in the order they were published is recommended. This approach allows for the most satisfying narrative progression and understanding of the character's journey. Standalone novels can, of course, be read at any time.
Paul Sussman writes both standalone novels and series. His Yusuf Khalifa books form a distinct series that follows a recurring protagonist and interconnected plotlines. In addition to his series work, he has also written standalone novels, such as The Hidden Oasis, which can be read independently of any other titles. His non-fiction book, Death by Spaghetti, is also a standalone work. This variety in his bibliography means readers can choose between immersive series or self-contained stories.
Paul Sussman has written a total of six books. This includes three books in the Yusuf Khalifa series, one standalone novel, and one non-fiction book. The Yusuf Khalifa series consists of The Last Secret of the Temple, The Lost Army of Cambyses, and The Labyrinth of Osiris. His standalone novel is The Hidden Oasis, and his non-fiction work is Death by Spaghetti. These titles represent the extent of his published works available to readers.
The first book Paul Sussman wrote was Death by Spaghetti, published in 1996. This non-fiction work predates his foray into fiction writing. Following this, his first novel was The Final Testimony of Raphael Ignatius Phoenix, published in 1605, though this appears to be an erroneous date and likely refers to a historical context within a fictional work rather than its publication year, as his other fiction was published much later. His first published fiction novel with a modern publication date is The Last Secret of the Temple from 2008.
The most recent book written by Paul Sussman is The Labyrinth of Osiris, published in 2013. This novel is part of the Yusuf Khalifa series. Following this publication, he did not release any further books. The Labyrinth of Osiris concludes the current narrative arc of the Yusuf Khalifa series, and it stands as his latest contribution to his body of work. Readers interested in his complete bibliography will find this title as the final entry.
Paul Sussman writes fiction, primarily thrillers and historical mysteries, often incorporating elements of archaeology and ancient history into his narratives. His Yusuf Khalifa series, for instance, delves into ancient secrets and conspiracies. He also wrote a non-fiction book. His fiction often features intricate plots and a sense of adventure, drawing readers into worlds filled with discovery and suspense. The themes in his work frequently explore hidden histories and the implications of uncovering them.
Joanna Hickson
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We verified the reading order for Paul Sussman's books by cross-referencing official publication dates, ISBN databases, and publisher catalogs.
Last verified: July 2026
Shelf & Shadows. (…). “Paul Sussman Books in Order.” Retrieved …, from https://www.shelfandshadows.com/authors/paul-sussman