| The Emersons, Ramses and Nefret, and Amelia and
Radcliffe, set off on the high seas in the midst of the Great War,
determined to take the risk rather than stay in England and be hit
by a stray bomb and never see Egypt again. Before leaving
London they fend off several attempts by the War Office to enlist
Ramses in their spy network. But it is apparent that the War
Office is not going to give up and the mysterious Mr. Smith is very
insistent.
On the boat they discover that Gagery, their feisty
butler, has stowed away so that he can come along "to
protect Miss Sennia".
When the arrive in Cairo to continue their
excavation of the tomb at Giza, only to find that dark forces seem
to be trying to scare them away from Cairo. Sennia is
kidnapped and Ramses is attacked by a member of the Nationalist Resistance
Group. Shortly thereafter the would be assassin's body is found
dumped in the tomb.
Sennia is recovered, unharmed, but the trail
of her kidnappers leads to Luxor. Ramses and Nefret have already
taken the Amelia to Luxor by way of a honeymoon, and they are
quickly followed by the rest of the Emersons. Partially to avoid the
attention of Miss Margaret Minton (Deeds of the Destroyer) who is
now covering war news in the Middle East. The news of the body
at an Emerson dig site has attracted her like a bee to honey ( or a
vulture to a corpse).
In Luxor, the niece and nephew of Abdullah
attach themselves to the party as guide and Egyptology student,
respectively. Jamil and Jumana are exact opposites, he is the stereotypic
spoiled son and she is the ambitious young woman, striving to rise above
the most common local career as beautiful young wife to an old man (the fate her
father is busily planning for her).
It soon becomes apparent that organized thievery
is going on again, and the Emerson family, en masse, begins to
investigate. More bodies are found, of course, and they begin
to suspect the involvement of A Master Criminal, if not The Master
Criminal, who is presumed dead.
The family of Cyrus Vandergelt and his wife
Catherine are drawn into the race to discover the tomb that the
robbers have opened.
All characters converge on Luxor and the usual
brisk chase, counter chase and detective musings occur, but this
book explores the relationship of the newlywed Ramses and Nefret and
their adjustment to life within a family headed by Amelia and
Emerson.
Several characters are reintroduced, including
Miss Minton. The recurring characters of Jamil and Jumana, and
Bertie Vandergelt are introduced as well as Mr.
Bracegirdle-Boisdragon (Mr. Smith). |
