Banned forever from the eastern end of the Valley of the Kings, eminent Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson's desperate attempt to regain digging rights backfires—and his dream of unearthing the tomb of the little-known king Tutankhamon is dashed. Now Emerson, his archaeologist wife, Amelia Peabody, and their family must watch from the sidelines as Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter "discover" the greatest Egyptian treasure of all time.

But the Emersons' own less impressive excavations are interrupted when father and son Ramses are lured into a trap by a strange group of villains ominously demanding answers to a question neither man comprehends. And it will fall to the ever-intrepid Amelia to protect her endangered family—and perhaps her nemesis as well—from a devastating truth hidden uncomfortably close to home . . . and from a nefarious plot that threatens the peace of the entire region.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The 1922 Egyptian archaeology season starts on a very bad note. Radcliffe Emerson's attempt to trick his rivals into handing over digging rights in the Valley of the Kings backfires, raising the worst suspicions of Howard Carter and Lord Carnavon. Just when Emerson is beginning to fret over the probable loss of King Tut and his riches, villains pose a question that lands him, Ramses, and Amelia in even worse trouble. Another exciting Peabody tale of death in the desert.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The absorbing 18th entry in MWA Grand Master Peters's bestselling Amelia Peabody series (after 2005's The Serpent on the Crown) centers on one of the great real-life discoveries in Egyptology-the opening of Tutankhamon's tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922. Amelia's husband, Radcliffe Emerson (aka "the Father of Curses"), has been wooing Lord Carnavon and Howard Carter to let him excavate in the Valley of the Kings where they have digging rights, leading his competitors to think there must be something worth unearthing in the area. The eventual uncovering of King Tut's burial chamber and its magnificent contents attracts a host of museum curators, antiquities specialists, government officials, reporters and thieves. The arrival of Emerson's shady half-brother, Sethos, desperately ill and carrying a secret document, further complicates a plot involving attacks on the Emerson family, Middle East politics, conspiracies and love affairs. Once again Peters delivers an irresistible mix of archeology, action, humor and a mystery that only the redoubtable Amelia can solve. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

By 1922, almost every Egyptologist despairs of finding another royal tomb-except for Radcliffe Emerson, who doesn't have the rights to dig where he suspects Tutankhamen lies. It's Howard Carter, subsidized by Lord Carnarvon, who gets the first glimpse of the royal burial chamber. The tomb's curse seems to be dogging the Emerson household, maybe because Emerson, his parasol-wielding wife Amelia Peabody, son Ramses, daughter-in-law Nefret, grandkiddies and assorted hangers-on have stealthily entered the tomb at night for a quick peek. Or maybe the Emerson woes have been caused by his brother Sethos, late of the British Secret Service, who attracts trouble the way the Nile attracts flies. Soon Sethos's estranged wife Margaret is kidnapped, an aged retainer is waylaid, the family is followed in and out of the souks and Carter and Carnarvon cut them dead at every opportunity. Is the mummy's curse active? Are nationalists rising against the Brits? Whatever the cause, Christmas must be celebrated, tea must be enjoyed on the veranda, whiskey and soda must be imbibed, several romances must be stage-managed by Amelia and all Tutankhamen's treasures must be oohed and aahed over as they are removed from his tomb. The political machinations are less interesting than the competition between the archaeologists and the Emerson family. As usual, though, Peters (The Serpent on the Crown, 2005, etc.) has great fun dressing her characters up in Victorian finery and outpost-of-the-empire attitudes.