Uma’s Head

Description

In the dangerous world of Southeast Asia’s illicit antiquities trade, a curator’s search for a missing colleague uncovers a decades-old conspiracy-and a stolen artifact that could unravel it all.

When art curator Sarah Burroughs glimpses a half-hidden Khmer sculpture in her mentor’s Bangkok apartment, she doesn’t yet realize she’s staring at Uma’s head, a stolen national treasure-and a clue to a dangerous secret. Across the border in Cambodia, fellow curator Sam Heng uncovers a shocking diary written at the start of the Khmer Rouge’s brutal reign-by the father he never knew. Soon after, Heng vanishes without a trace.

Thrust into the criminal underworld of antiquities trafficking, Sarah must join forces with a mysterious government official to find her missing colleague. What begins as a research trip for a museum exhibition spirals into a harrowing rescue mission through Bangkok, Phnom Penh, and Angkor’s ancient temples. Inspired by historical events, Uma’s Head is a gripping mystery that explores the depths of friendship and betrayal, the long and lasting effects of war, and the devastating looting of irreplaceable material heritage.

Binding Type: Paperback
Author: Kristin Kelly
Published: 01/27/2026
Publisher: Sticks on Fire Books
ISBN: 9798999071804
Pages: 250
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 0.57″ H x 9.00″ L x 6.00″ W

About the Author
Kelly, Kristin: – Kristin Kelly is an art historian and former museum professional who first fell in love with Southeast Asia on a trip to Vietnam in 1993. She has authored two nonfiction books on Southeast Asian cultural heritage and lectured for Bryn Mawr College’s Alumnae Association travel program. A longtime Californian, her thirty-five-year career in museums and cultural heritage included significant time with the Getty Trust. She holds an AB in history of art from Bryn Mawr College and a PhD in art history and archaeology from Columbia University.