The clouds of World War I hang heavy over Cairo, as Amelia Peabody and her family return to Egypt for another season of archaeological excavation. The defianly pacifist stance of Amelia and Emerson's headstrong son, Ramses, is earning the young man the derision, and much worse, of the British expatriate community. Meanwhile, the charismatic nationalist el Wardani is said to be formenting insurrection in the ancient city. And an exquisite sculpture found where it ought not to be confirms Amelia's most unsettling suspicion about the reemergence of her villainous archnemesis, Sethos, the Master Criminal. Here is a magnificent new masterwork in a series destined to make history. About the Author: Elizabeth Peters earned her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago's famed Oriental Institute. An Agatha Award-winning author, Ms. Peters was named Grandmaster at the inaugural Anthony Awards in 1986, and Grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America at the Edgar Awards in 1998. She lives in Frederick, MD.