Part of Amelia Peabody, book 3
First published 1995
Amelia Peabody visits an antiquities dealer in Cairo to purchase papyri for her brother-in-law Walter. She overhears a suspicious conversation and watches the dealer refuse to sell her a papyrus fragment that her son Ramses found in the back room. The dealer turns up dead the next day. Amelia spots the mysterious stranger from the shop at their excavation site in Mazghunah, where she and her husband Emerson dig through rubble after being denied access to the Dahshoor pyramids. Someone steals the papyrus from their camp and makes off with an entire mummy from a neighboring tourist. Emerson finally agrees they face more than ordinary grave robbing. The family investigates suspects including missionaries, a German baroness, and the head of the Department of Antiquities. Their young son Ramses helps despite their objections, along with his exceptionally clever cat Bastet. When the Emersons search an ancient tomb for answers, they uncover modern dangers that threaten their lives.
Genres: adventure, suspense, mystery, archaeology, ancient
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, investigation
Setting: Cairo, Mazghunah, Dahshoor
Period: 19th-century
327 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Grand Central Publishing