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 problems converge around a concealed death and the behaviour of the younger generation. Ramses, Nefret and David conduct inquiries of their own, forcing Amelia to recognise that they can no longer be kept safely outside the family’s investigations. The warning, the séances and the tomb all become parts of a murder case in which several people are protecting different secrets.