In this first book in the series, Amelia Peabody begins her tour of the Continent and Egypt. The recent death of her scholarly father has left her with a moderate fortune, and she wants to see the world that she has read about in
his library.
While in Rome, she befriends Evelyn Barton-Forbes, a fellow Briton, who has defied Victorian convention by eloping with her Italian drawing master, Alberto, who then abandoned her to her fate when her money ran out and her family disowned her.
Amelia was visiting the ruins of the forem
when she noticed a crowd rudely gathering around Evelyn's collapsed
form. She naturally took charge and brought Evelyn to her hotel to
recover.
Amelia's own maid has proven to be a poor traveler, and so she is packed off to England
and Evelyn is persuaded to put her past behind her and to proceed to Egypt as Amelia's traveling companion.
In Cairo they meet the Emerson brothers, Walter and Radcliffe, who are excavating at the buried city of the "Heretic" Pharaoh,
Akhenaten.
Evelyn's cousin, Lucas, and then the feckless Italian lover, Alberto, turn up, each to offer to "make her an honest woman by marrying her" and they bring news of the death of her grandfather.
A mysterious visitation by an Ancient Egyptian during the night and the delicate attentions of Walter Emerson persuade Amelia and Evelyn to board their
dahabeeyah and escape up the Nile to begin their lives as agreeable spinster companions.
But it's not that simple. They meet the Emerson brothers again at the site of Akhenatan's tomb and romance and mayhem develop when Evelyn is pursued by a vengeful Mummy.
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