Murder in Cairo Solving a Cold War Spy Mystery
By Peter Gillman and Emanuele Midolo
On a warm night in December 1977, David Holden, chief foreign correspondent for the Sunday Times, landed in Cairo to report on crucial peace talks between Egypt and Israel, an epochal moment in global politics. Shortly after dawn, his body was found dumped on a dusty roadside. He had been shot with a single bullet through the heart.
Who killed Holden and why? These were the questions pursued for a year by the newspaper’s Insight team, overseen by legendary editor Harold Evans. Before he died in 2020, Evans said that their failure to solve the case was the biggest regret of his long career.
Now, a member of the original Insight team has joined forces with a young investigative journalist from today’s Sunday Times to resume the quest. Their search leads them into a world of intrigue and betrayal, exposing the fatal crossovers between journalism and spying.
Meticulously researched and grippingly told, Murder in Cairo reveals the truth of one of the most enigmatic cold case mysteries of the past fifty years.
WITH A FOREWORD BY TINA BROWN
Reviews
“Gripping. Gillman and Midolo’s hunt for the truth behind the complicated facade of David Holden’s murder reads better than any Cold War spy thriller.”
Claire Hubbard-Hall, author of Her Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence
“Murder in Cairo illuminates a sinister, colourful, clandestine world.”
Tina Brown, bestselling author and former editor-in-chief of New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Tatler
“If any mystery writer were to put this in a novel, it would hardly be believed. But page by page, a dramatic story of spies, murder and betrayal unfolds in this excellently researched and gripping book.”
Richard J. Aldrich, author of GCHQ
“A dazzling feat of investigative journalism that reads like a le Carré. Two reporters piece together, after fifty years, the murder of the Middle East correspondent on their own newspaper – and mine – David Holden. Their hunt for the truth, which evaded a massive search at the time, broke through those brick walls to reveal the dangerous and widespread connections between the intelligence agencies, the spies among us and the journalists they targeted. Little did we know how close they were.”
James Fox, author of White Mischief
“A wonderful story, superbly told. A true page-turner. Emblematic of an opaque world that is all but impossible for outsiders to penetrate. Enthralling, it deserves to be read.”
Bob Baer, former CIA officer and author of See No Evil
“I learned so much that I didn’t know from this riveting page-turner of a book. It’s a fascinating take on a genuine mystery.”
Daniel Finkelstein, author of Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad and former executive editor of The Times
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- Hardback, 464 pages
- ISBN: 9781785907029
- 20 March 2025
- £20.00
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- ISBN: 9781785909993
- 20 March 2025
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