1. Crocodile on the Sandbank
In 1884, the independently wealthy Amelia Peabody leaves England to travel through Europe and the Middle East. After rescuing Evelyn Barton-Forbes from an abusive situation in Rome, Amelia takes her new companion to Egypt, where they encounter the irascible archaeologist Radcliffe Emerson and his more diplomatic…
2. The Curse of the Pharaohs
Several years after their marriage, Amelia and Radcliffe Emerson are drawn back to Egypt when Lady Baskerville asks them to continue the Luxor excavation begun by her recently deceased husband. Sir Henry’s death, the disappearance of an archaeologist and a series of alarming incidents have encouraged…
3. The Mummy Case
During the 1894–95 excavation season, Emerson is furious to receive an unpromising concession at Mazghuna instead of the pyramids he wanted to investigate. Amelia’s attention shifts from the barren site when an antiquities dealer is murdered in Cairo and a suspicious man connected with the crime…
4. Lion in the Valley
In the 1895–96 season, Amelia, Emerson and eight-year-old Ramses secure a desirable excavation at Dahshur. Their professional triumph is disrupted by theft, violence and signs that Sethos—the Master Criminal who has repeatedly challenged Amelia—is operating nearby with a new and intensely personal purpose. When Ramses is…
5. The Deeds of the Disturber
Spending the summer of 1896 in London, Amelia is drawn into a mystery at the British Museum after a night watchman is found dead in the Egyptian collection. Sensational newspapers attribute the death to a mummy’s curse, and further disturbances spread fear among museum staff and…
6. The Last Camel Died at Noon
In 1897, Amelia and Emerson travel into the Sudan after receiving evidence that an explorer and his young wife, missing for twelve years, may still be alive. Their route leads beyond conventional archaeological travel into territory shaped by the Mahdist conflict, unreliable guides and the physical…
7. The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog
In 1898, Amelia and Emerson leave Ramses and Nefret in England and return to Egypt for what Amelia intends as a second honeymoon. Their search for evidence connected with Nefertiti’s burial at Amarna is interrupted when Emerson is abducted and returned with his memory of Amelia…
8. The Hippopotamus Pool
At the turn of the twentieth century, a stranger shows Amelia and Emerson a ring associated with Queen Tetisheri and claims to know the location of her lost tomb. When he is poisoned before revealing the site, the Emerson family travels to Thebes to reconstruct his…
9. Seeing a Large Cat
Returning to Egypt in 1903, Amelia receives an anonymous warning to stay away from tomb 20-A. At the same time, an old acquaintance asks her to deal with a fraudulent spiritualist, while a retired colonel fears that an unknown enemy is threatening his daughter. The separate…
10. The Ape Who Guards the Balance
In the 1906–07 season, Ramses, Nefret and David acquire an exceptionally fine papyrus of the Book of the Dead in Cairo. Its provenance points toward an organised antiquities operation, and the family’s attempt to trace it draws them into a network involving grave robbers, secretive collectors…
11. Guardian of the Horizon
Set in 1907–08, the novel begins with the Emersons in England after they have been barred from the Valley of the Kings. Ramses, secretly in love with Nefret, plans to leave for Germany until a visitor carrying a damaged map and an urgent letter draws the…
12. A River in the Sky
In 1910, Amelia and Emerson travel to Ottoman Palestine to stop an English adventurer from conducting a reckless search for the treasures of the Jerusalem Temple beneath a site sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jews. British officials also suspect that the expedition conceals German intelligence activity.…
13. The Falcon at the Portal
During the 1911–12 season, Amelia’s nephew by marriage, David, is accused of producing forged antiquities. The charge threatens both his professional future and the Emerson family’s reputation, while the arrival of Amelia’s nephew Percy creates further conflict through his pursuit of Nefret. Amelia and Emerson investigate…
14. The Painted Queen
In 1912, Amelia’s arrival in Cairo is interrupted when a mortally wounded man enters her hotel room and dies after announcing a murder. An attempted assassination and the disappearance of a German archaeologist lead the Emersons toward forged antiquities and a priceless painted bust of Queen…
15. He Shall Thunder in the Sky
In 1914, the outbreak of war transforms Cairo into a military and intelligence centre. David is interned because of his Egyptian nationalist sympathies, Ramses is condemned for his apparent opposition to the war, and Nefret’s involvement with Percy deepens the divisions within the Emerson family. Enemy…
16. Lord of the Silent
In the autumn of 1915, Cairo is crowded with troops, intelligence officers and wartime opportunists, while tomb robbers exploit the disruption to raid archaeological sites. Seeking a quieter season in Luxor, Amelia and Emerson instead discover the recent body of a murdered man inside an ancient…
17. The Golden One
During the 1916–17 season, the Emersons return to Egypt through submarine-threatened waters and immediately find a fresh corpse in a looted tomb. A warning orders them to abandon the investigation, while Nefret reveals evidence suggesting that Sethos may be assisting Germany rather than Britain. The family…
18. Children of the Storm
In 1919, the Emerson family returns to excavation after the war. Ramses and Nefret are now parents, and Amelia expects that the end of intelligence missions and the arrival of grandchildren will produce a less dangerous season. Instead, thefts, attacks and threats against the children reveal…
19. The Serpent on the Crown
In the autumn of 1921, a frightened widow brings the Emersons a small golden statue of Tutankhamun and claims that its curse killed her husband. She asks them to return it to the tomb from which it was stolen, although the location of that tomb—and the…
20. Tomb of the Golden Bird
In 1922, Emerson remains convinced that Tutankhamun’s tomb lies in the Valley of the Kings, but the excavation rights belong to Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon. Unable to displace his rivals, the Emerson family works nearby and watches as Carter closes in on the discovery that…