Part of Amelia Peabody, book 19
First published 2010
August 1910 finds Amelia Peabody and her husband Emerson barred from their beloved Valley of the Kings. They reluctantly join Major George Morley's expedition to Palestine, where he seeks the legendary Ark of the Covenant. Emerson secretly watches Morley for British Intelligence, suspecting the major works as a German agent sent to destabilize the region. Amelia fights to stop Morley's amateur methods from destroying ancient treasures and inflaming religious tensions among Christians, Jews, and Muslims in this volatile corner of the Ottoman Empire. Their son Ramses works separately at a dig in Samaria, where he encounters mysterious travelers and uncovers vital intelligence. He must reach his parents in Jerusalem to share his discovery, but dangerous forces threaten his journey. As political intrigue swirls around the search for one of history's most sacred artifacts, the Peabody family navigates espionage, archaeology, and religious conflict in the powder keg of the Holy Land.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, mystery, archaeology, espionage
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, found-family
Setting: Holy Land, Jerusalem, Palestine, Samaria, Valley of the Kings
Period: 1910
307 pages · Hardcover · William Morrow