Part of Amelia Peabody, book 20
First published 2017
Amelia Peabody relaxes in her Cairo hotel bath when a dying man stumbles in with a knife in his back. He gasps "Murder" and collapses, clutching a paper with her name and a card reading "Judas." The stranger wears a gold monocle, the first of many such men who will die mysteriously. Someone saved Amelia from an assassin, likely the master criminal Sethos, who leaves cryptic notes for her husband Emerson. Undeterred by the danger, Amelia and Emerson travel to their excavation at Amarna, where workers uncover the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti, carved by sculptor Thutmose in 1345 B.C. to honor Akhenaten's beautiful consort. But the priceless artifact disappears, forcing Amelia to solve both the theft and the mounting murders. This final adventure in Peters's mystery series brings Amelia face to face with her greatest adversary as bodies pile up and ancient treasures vanish into the Egyptian night.
Genres: adventure, mystery, archaeology, ancient-history
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Amarna, Cairo
Period: 1345 B.C., 20th-century
325 pages · Hardcover · William Morrow