Murder in the Tower of Happiness

This fast-paced city thriller takes us inside the Tower of Happiness, one of the luxury high-rises planted along the Nile south of Cairo, and inside the sordid lives and lavish lifestyles of its super-rich and famous denizens.
The naked, strangled body of Ahlam, a beautiful young actress, is discovered in one of the elevators, and as the police investigation gets under way, we meet many of the tower's strange characters: the owner's agent, Kasib Bey, overweight, toupeed, and decked in gold chains; wealthy contractor Abd al-Tawab Mabruk Basha (Tutu Basha to his friends), insomniac since Ahlam's murder; Abd al-Malak, a psychic with a Ph.D. in genetic engineering from MIT; Farah, his erstwhile sweetheart, who has become one of the very candy dolls she used to scorn; belly-dancer Lula Hamdi, who would be able to see Timbuktu if she stood on top of a pile of all her money; Madame Esmeralda, the society lady from Chile; and the homely Dr. Mahgub, somewhat less well off than his neighbors. And of course there is Antar - the naughty boy - who roams the tower, enters apartments, and overhears conversations, unsettling and exposing the decadent occupants and their relationships.