Nurse in the Desert — Kay Winchester

Geoffrey Shane, Nurse Heather Henderson's fiance, is missing in North Africa. At work on a book on desert tribes, he has gone to Babuko, which has been in the news lately as a real trouble spot. Frantic with anxiety, Heather decides to go and look for him. She has a month's leave due to her from the hospital, but little money. It is the man at the travel agency who suggests a solution: an Arab couple need a nurse to accompany their invalid daughter on the night flight to El Haida.

But the Devereaux are not what they seem... Alone in a strange city without luggage, money or a passport, knowing little French and no Arabic, Heather confides in Maurice Prescot, an English archaeologist staying at the hotel. He sends her with an Arab friend to an address where Geoffrey Shane might be, but on the way she is kidnapped. Managing to escape, Heather is found lying on the roadside by Maurice. He is on a secret dig and time is precious, so he takes her with him into the desert.

When Heather finally meets up with Geoffrey many puzzling questions are answered â€" not least the identity of her true love.