Uma’s Head
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Product Details
Publisher: Sticks on Fire Books
Release Date: January 27, 2026
Formats: Paperback, Ebook
ISBN: PB: 979-8-9990718-0-4; EB: 979-8-9990718-1-1
Trim: 6 x 9
Page Count: 250
A Novel
Kristin Kelly
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.
About the Author
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. A longtime Californian, her thirty-five-year career in museums included significant time with the Getty Trust. She holds degrees in art history from Bryn Mawr College and Columbia University. Uma’s Head is her debut novel.
Reviews
“Some of us might think that museums are essentially staid temples of boredom. Kristin Kelly knows better. In Uma’s Head, she brilliantly mixes espionage and cultural history with art theft and breathtaking action. The result is a compelling journey into a mysterious and dangerous world, made all the more believable because Kelly has direct museum experience in international locales. Move over Bones, there’s another crime-fighting PhD on the scene!” —Hugh A. D. Spencer, author of The Hard Side of the Moon and The Fabulist Play Cycle
“Uma’s Head is a fascinating, fast-moving historical novel set in Cambodia, starting fifty years ago in the depths of the American military adventurism in Southeast Asia. Kristin Kelly writes vividly on a subject about which she is clearly passionate. The focus is on part of an iconic sculpture of Cambodian art from the Khmer Empire, stolen in the 1970s. The ensuing story weaves together the lives of art historians, museum workers, sketchy art dealers and collectors, and all manner of criminals and ordinary people involved with illicit trafficking of antiquities out of Cambodia and into the United States and beyond after the tragedies and chaos that defined Cambodia for several decades. Kelly writes with the authority of an art scholar who knows this part of the world well— she is an excellent storyteller and drives the story forward with gusto. It is a mystery, a thriller, and a paean to one of the most beautiful and artistically important countries in Asia. Highly recommended!” —Anne Farrell, retired senior executive, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
“Uma’s Head is a compelling whodunit set in parts of Thailand and Cambodia. Kristin Kelly, who obviously knows and loves the cultural heritage of those countries, weaves a story of friendship, loyalty, and betrayal, while shedding light on the complex and often dangerous world of those involved in the illegal trafficking of antiquities.” —Cynthia Godlewski, retired publications manager for works about conservation of cultural heritage
“Thoroughly engaging from the first page, Uma’s Head is a terrific read that took me on a suspenseful journey through Southeast Asia with characters I can’t wait to meet again!” —Marcy Kaplan, former general manager, Borders Books and Music, and former manager, Professional Development, American Association of School Librarians
“A captivating story of the secrets of art collecting and theft on a global scale, well-paced and well-told. With an expert’s eye and personal experience in the region, Kristin Kelly takes us into a world in which trust is both lost and found in the most dramatic ways.” —Robert M. Galford, co-author of The Trusted Advisor and The Trusted Leader